The Observatory's Cat
by Laiika
Summary: Harry turned into a cat during the third task. He's been missing for over two years and he's finally made his way 'home' to Grimmauld Place. His recent travels have changed him substaintially, both magically and mentally.  AU after GoF.
1. Home

This **is** another new story, XD

Good news though, is that I learned something! You write it all down, THEN start posting! Ha! So I will be posting one chapter every few days, there are about 7 I believe. It depends. _Anyway, this could be considered Pre-slash or Slash for Harry and an OC_, do not bother Flaming as I don't care, if you have a problem, don't read. And do not say you didn't have warning, either. Enjoy everyone!

Disclaimer: I do not own, I do however own a sparkley, Irial-Approved silver net for catching reviews. Its bright and has wRock emitting from the depths. xD

Summary: After the sudden portkey to the graveyard Harry uses a combination of Wish and Accidental magic to get away from Voldemort, he becomes a cat, a small black cat that travels for two years to find home through countries and cities. Harry is turned back to a human by an Auror at Grimmauld place where they discover that his journey spent as a feline has altered his own magical signiture, keeping some of the more obvious forms of his Animagus form Harry has a bit of catch-up to do if he wants to complete his education with the rest of the trio. Harry has grown up a lot in these past years, the differences between him and his friends have grown larger, the changes have skewed his magic and his DogFather is free. Harry even has to learn about the ever-exanding Grimmauld Place.

Characters: Harry, Remus, S. Snape, Moody, the Weasley twins and an O.C mainly.

Pairings: Harry/O.C.

Other: This is AU after Goblet of Fire, quite a bit really.

**The Observatory's Cat**

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><p><em>TOC;<em> Prelude

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><p>The young cat bolted from it's shady spot as the auto above it began to rumble, mussing his fur and sending panic through his spine. The lithe black cat raced to the nearest bit of shade the bush's bright wide leaves descended over him as he rolled under it. His eyes focused up through the hot summer sun to get a glimpse of the people around, the street signs, anything that would tell him he was going in the right direction. It had been over two years since the mishap in the graveyard, two long years since he had last seen his family, his friends. Since he had been to Hogwarts, Privet Drive, Grimmauld place and, until recently, London.<p>

The graveyard, the flight through the wilderness to find a completely backwards muggle village with barely enough people for it to be called one; the entirety of the past two years crashed down on his again, it was doing it more often as he shoved it back every time, bottling it up behind the cupboard in his mind. He'd look and sort through the final task of the tournament when he was home.

Harry wondered what Sirius was doing, whether Pettigrew had been captured. He laid down on his paws for a moment of rest, giving himself time for a brief daydream on him family. Hermione was probably crushing Ron with both worry and study cards, the thought made Harry snort, Professor Remus would be with Sirius like he'd said he would. Harry stood, the last thought before he pushed them away was of Voldemort and his resurrection. Harry had left the party early, he had only caught a glimpse of the decrepit baby-like being that was the Ex-Dark Lord.

He tilted his head as he felt his ear spasm, he really only knew he was in London because of the people rushing past and their words to eachother, it really was just his luck that he would turn into the most unassuming, pet-able little cat (apparently), that just _had _to be patted and hugged and all-around cuddled every time he managed to make any headway home or a stop in any populated area.

It was kind of nice, though, when he was really hungry he could get 'adopted' easily for a few days until that inevitable moment in which he could escape again, he'd had a bright collar for the past few weeks though, since the last time where they had caught him twice trying to leave. It had a very shiny nameplate on it, the bronze metal plated directly onto the red leather. He had gleamed, from the people who had put it on, and the subsequent ones who found and read it aloud, that his name was now 'Kieran'. Not that it didn't't fit, but it wasn't his name. Harry blinked in the harsh sun, the bright emeralds drinking in all that they could between the many passer-bys. His ears flat on his head against a sudden whistle, he darted through the bushes and the fence, the iron brushing his sides as he found himself in a large square park, the prim bushes and blocks surrounding the large space. Harry blinked his eyes, craning his head for a sign, and, having spotted one near a gate to his left, trotted off toward it.

He had to step back into the foot traffic to read the sign, his head couldn't tilt far enough back from the safer spot beneath it. The moment there was a lull in the people he jumped back and sat up primly, eyes fixed on the lettering. 'SOHO SQUARE' was proclaimed in bright inky letters and Harry's heart leapt to his throat, he'd finally made it. He'd passed this park on the way to the train! Renewed with the fresh vitality that came with the hope of 'home' Harry took off in the direction his instincts were telling him his family was. He'd trusted his instincts to get this close to home, he'd followed paths along the river, through desolate countryside and teeming towns, he'd managed to keep to himself mainly unless the situation seemed dire, although most winters had been spent with varying families throughout a town; he'd learned more these past months that bled together about independence and survival than Voldemort had ever taught him with his plots of demise.

Harry dodged a few feet as the people around him tightened, the day traffic so ingrained and self-important they couldn't see the rushing cat as he made his way to a familiar feeling street, with what seemed to be, familiar feeling houses. His heart beating wildly, Harry loped through lawns, trying to scent out any discerning scents, hoping for a whiff of Sirius; anything that would tell him he was close! Harry struggled across another pitch of road, a near miss having his heart racing more than before and making the decision for him, he sat down to calm himself, eyeing the row of buildings sternly, not noticing the one on the opposite side of the street unmerging from the space between the numbers 11 and 13.

He was tired. He'd been tired for so long. Harry felt more than tiredness now, he felt the creeping desolation that had been growing with every passing week. He gave a pitiful mew, unknowingly catching the notice of two people, two wizards just a few meters away; Harry could feel his paws shaking, the streets that had seemed so familiar, so _right_ suddenly seemed so very wrong. He looked up at the midday sun, beating him with its heat; and with a sad meow he could feel a few more strands that connected him to his old life, to being the 'Boy-who-Lived' rather than the street-cat stray Kieran. Harry looked around, standing on shaky paws as the wind picked up, it provided that refreshing gust of cool air, a winds-of-change kind of smell, that lifted right through Harry and toward the Wizards on the other side of the street. The wind carried more than just his scent, it brought life back to him. One wizard donned with a roving glass eye that bored into the cats back; the other a slightly shabbily-dressed man with greying hair whose eyes turned a bright gold at the scent of the wind, filled with the animal within him. It took only seconds for the cat to stand and roll his little head around the block, eyes skipping over the humans, the wizards, in the search for his vaguely remembered home as he looked for any relics of 'home', the feeling brought with the wind urged him onward and he nodded to himself as he took a few steps forward.

It was all it took, that one scent, that one human action of the cat; they were almost convincing of humanity to the Wizards and not just wishful thinking. Harry stopped when he felt something 'wrong', an instinctual feeling and he looked around again, confusion clearly on his face.

The magical eye bore deep into him, unnoticed by the cat, while the other one narrowed, this wide, scarred mouth opened and, with a whisper, mouthed the simple word 'green' as if confused.

It was enough for the werewolf.

"HARRY!" The golden-eyed man shouted the hoarse cry and disappeared only to appear at the cat's side, his arms scooping him up amid a flurry of slightly panicked sounding meows; golden eyes met emerald and in the second it took for the spark of resignation to appear in Harry's eyes the scent of the werewolf, of home, filled him.

Harry sighed, eyes slipping shut, as he melted into the embrace. He was home.

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><p><em>AN. And now if you have any comments, critiques or other, click the button, thanks! Most chapters will be between one and three thousand words, just to inform the masses.<em>


	2. Grimmauld Place

Thank you for the reviews! And as I said, this story will probably only be pre-slash, _maybe_ slash; between Harry and an O.C (most likely as I haven't actually decided to include those bits yet as they appear after the main portion of the story and therefore are not complete.)

Disclaimer: I do not own, I do however own a sparkley, Irial-Approved silver net for catching reviews. Its bright and has wRock emitting from the depths. xD

Other: This is AU after Goblet of Fire, quite a bit really.

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><p><strong>The Observatory's Cat<strong>

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><p><em>TOC;<em> Grimmauld Place

oOo

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><p>Remus carried the cat back across the street, meeting the Auror and moving back to the step of Number Twelve; this was more important than their previous mission, a shopping trip for a few special needs for groceries. The two were silent as the opened the door and entered the long Hallway the began the manor. They were just as silent as they walked into the kitchen and more so as they sat back at the thick wooden table that was still occupied by the rest of the inhabitants.<p>

"What? No tea for the finders?" the werewolf chuckled at the odd looks he was receiving. It had been months since the man had made a joke, longer than Sirius and known for his long brooding periods; Sirius had described them as the werewolf losing its cub again much to Remus' ire. Mrs. Weasley poured them each a cup and the silence dragged on until the furry bundle moved. The occupants obviously didn't know what to make of this; Sirius had closed off to pretty much everyone but a select few with most of his emotions repressed only to appear in a prank (usually on one of the teachers, Weasleys or Remus). The sudden 'cheery' Remus had not been seen by him for a long time if the current look on his face was any indication; he was looking at the other Marauder with a mix of pity and loss.

Harry opened his eyes and was greeted to the wonderful scents of family, he turned his head and jumped onto the table, eyes whipping across the troupe around him as his head swiveled. He inwardly laughed at the slightly disgusted look he was receiving by being on the table from the Weasley matron and his bushy haired friend. His heart gave a lurch as his eyes roamed her face, seeing the childish one he'd had in his mind become overlaid by the new, older, face of the young woman before him. He saw Ron, paying more attention to the biscuits in front of him than his best-friend-turned-cat before him. The longer hair and defined face again conflicted with the image he'd stored in his mind. Harry blinked at the twins, the same as always and happily looking at him, with what _almost_ seemed like recognition in their twinkling eyes. He meowed at Moody and Remus before his eyes met the ones he'd been searching for, the bright steel of his Dogfather. Harry hadn't known what would happen to this man while he was gone, whether he would be kissed or die from another means; it felt like a physical weight was lifted when his eyes met those of the other mans.

He cried and leapt into the chest of Sirius, the clean hair and healthy face contrasted even more harshly with his memories than those of his friends but the bright eyes with their barely hidden mischief were the same. It didn't matter that he'd spent the past two years alone, it didn't matter that Sirius didn't know who he was; he was with his family and that was home.

Remus cleared his throat, a soft look on his face to match his damp eyes as he smiled at the befuddled Black. Harry purred loudly, rubbing his face against Sirius and mewing his story out even if no one could understand him, Harry felt Sirius pet him once and pull at the dirty collar before his hands were lain on the table. "We found Harry."

The bombshell _could_ have been dropped more subtly, Remus could have danced around the subject; but with the tiny cat obviously confusing everyone the situation needed to be remedied as-soon-as-possible especially since the cat seemed to know Sirius, it had given them even more proof; he smelled like Harry (and cat), had his eyes and had found them, now he knew him and Sirius. Remus was sure this was Harry. The blank stares that he received, everyone from the current man petting the cat, to the Weasleys and even the dubious look he received from the cat spoke very clearly on the fact that it seemed highly unlikely that the cat nestled in Sirius' arms was anything but a stray. Harry pulled away to go to Remus, who believed it was him and seemed to be the only one other than the scarred Auor who was leaning against the doorway, leaving the lap of his godfather as he sat before his honorary uncle and the rest of his family, having absolutely no idea how to change back or how to prove he was their Harry and so could only stare at Remus for help.

"Remus, it has a collar. It says his name is 'Kieran'; not Harry." Sirius stated, eyes dark. Harry didn't think he took it well; being told his godson was suddenly a cat; Sirius was no longer looking at Moony like he had lost his mind, he was looking at him as if this was a practical joke without a better punchline. "You should take it back outside."

"Padfoot, contact Poppy and Albus. I'm sure between them we can figure out how to turn him back-" Remus began, attempting to placate his friend. Harry looked at how much his family had changed, they all looked older of course, his godfather looked much healthier, but Ron looked… bigger. Remus looked worse than before. He wondered if Sirius had been freed yet, what all had changed.

"I can do a spell." A bright voice piped up, it came from a young woman seated beside Hermione. "It'll revert an Animagus back to human, it can effect people differently, some lose the ability to transform after, if he is Harry he should know that." The pink haired Auror said from her spot, nodding her head and looking sadly at Remus, as though he had gone insane. Harry wanted to jump up and scream at them, with magic in their lives every day how could they just... no belive this? Harry tilted his head back at her, trying to remember the young girl. He couldn't put a name to her face or even a vague idea of who she was.

"It's just a cat Tonks. Do it." Sirius drawled, rolling a hand much like Malfoy would have.

"Wait! Try the Revelo spell first, it'll tell you if he's an Animagus, without damaging him if he's not." Remus sounded desperate and Harry winced, meowing up at him in apology. This wasn't working the way he had thought it would.

Harry shot startled eyes up to the woman, her hair flaring bright purple as she slammed a fist into her hand while she glared at Sirius. "Fine. Ill do the Revelo spell first, then the other," She pointed her wand at Harry, who flinched and looked for help from the two men who believed his identity, Moody was scowling while Remus was looking more excited than Harry had ever seen. He felt the spell hit him, the bright purple spun around his fur and lifted it from it's place. He glared and growled at her as he shook to straighten his misplaced fur. He felt his body tingle, but nothing actually happened. A small amount of fear gripped Harry as scenarios of being stuck alone as a little black cat went through his head until he heard the woman, Tonks, intone clearly to the people around him that she was trying the other spell, she was explaining about the flicker her spell had caused meant that it was only a partial Animagus Transformation, confusing Harry further, and that that spell only worked on full formations. He flicked his ear. "Reverto."

Harry gasped as the spell wrapped around him, followed immediately by a harsh pain that shot through his body, he felt his muscles flaring and stretching, bones snapping. He whimpered and cried out pathetically as he felt the magic work. He heard through the pain gasps and squeels of chairs being pushed back and the soft sounds of his name whispered from his family. He felt the hair turn into fabric, covering his body as he changed. He heard, rather than saw, the movement as someone scooped him up; eliciting a gasp of pain as the bone and muscles reformed. Harry couldn't open his eyes as he started to drift on the pain, he felt like he had just before that bright light had hit him in the graveyard when he'd pushed Diggory away; he could feel the sharp pains of the snapped ankle he'd won from the tournament and the damaged ribs from the crash and the sudden transformation as he bolted away on inky paws. He could feel the cuts from the maze still, they were itching on his skin. Most of all, he could feel hands holding him up as he was half carried through the halls, the magic forgotten in their haste.

The soft feeling of home surrounded him as he was laid onto the couch, facing the hall they had no doubt come in through, Harry watched as the four Weasleys followed, Moody's voice floating from the kitchen. Ron sat with his mother, holding her hand tightly. Hermione's hair covered his view of them for a moment as she grabbed him, Sirius' shocked face just a few tiny feet from him. Remus was settled behind him, holding him upright and undoing the buttons of his shirt. Harry winced in pain as the material was removed as it brushed the pains and his too-tight and new skin, he tried to keep his eyes open as the seconds passed; Hermione was pulled from his side by Sirius; Ron and his mother took a seat opposite him on another couch. Harry watched as the pain began to fade and the hall between the Weasleys and the wall lit up in a green tinge, signalling that someone had arrived by floo. He sighed, flicking his ear at a twinge as he wrapped his tail tighter around whatever it was touching.

"Oh Harry," Hermione whispered, ignoring Sirius's attempts at keeping her from touching the boy and sitting next to Remus' feet on the floor beside Harry's head. He was now laying on the couch, his head resting on the werewolf's lap. She smoothed his hair. "We missed you so much!" Her eyes were bright with tears as she stroked the crown of his head, "You have no idea!"

"I think I might," he whispered, his voice was rough, cracked and dry. He leaned up into her hand slightly as a breathy laugh escaped him, "I lost you all, too, 'Mione."

With the subtle 'tap, tap' that told of the peg-legged Auror approaching the quiet conversation halted and all eyes met the entranceway; Remus tightened the arm laying across him, Hermione's hand stilled before it slid back to her lap. Harry smiled at the steely haired matron who followed the scarred old Auror into the room, her small black leather bag resting in her hands as she saw him; Harry got to watch as her mask of clinical professionalism slipped to show a glimpse of concern and surprise before she was descending upon him, the acrid scent of potions following her.

"Well, well, Mr. Potter," She tsked, vanishing the half-unbottoned remains of the shirt Remus had been trying to undo before he'd laid Harry down, already casting diagnostic charms about him. "Welcome back," she frowned a little as her eyes roved over his thin chest and the ribs that had never really hidden well beneath his skin. She waved her wand in a complicated dance that sent bright blue spots and soft tingles all down his skin, "Did you not remember how to eat? You're skin and bones!" She clucked as she prodded at him.

"When I could!" he rasped, his voice still rusty with disuse; though heavy with a defensive edge, he gave her a crooked grin accompanied by a glare, "I barely had claws!"

"Humph." She cast a bright purple spell, frowning at the results. "That's really no excuse," she answered distractedly. Harry frowned in return, he could just imagine how flat his ears would be if he was still a cat, which elicited a painful chuckle. His whole side felt like it was on a low fire. "Well, you seem to have no broken bones, amazingly, you're barely underweight, _surprisingly_." she commented dryly, "I can just vanish those pesky appendages and fix up that bruise there. Your ankle's a tad sprained, can you manage to not over exert it? Yes, yes, I'll leave it. It's better to heal naturally. You look much worse than you are, for once," her voice miffed and proud as she addressed Harry, the slight bewildered tone as she commented about his weight made him wonder if, perhaps, she thought her spell was wrong.

Harry laughed, when the mediwitch was in full 'patient-mode' she always spoke her thoughts aloud, "Appendages?"

"Your lovely little ears? That tail you're lashing your leg with? You know, just the usual," Hermione poked his ear, his very _cat-like_ ear. He hissed at the flash of pain that shot along the top of head, one he had grown accostumed to in the past few months, the furry ear tryed to blend back into his skull as it flattened. "I'm sorry Harry!" Hermione gasped, shocked at the reaction.

"Hold on, let me get that, what did you do, Potter? Bruise the top of your skull?" Poppy cast muttered incantation to undo the ear beneath her breath. As soon as the jet of the spell settled around him, Harry hissed and would have curled into a tight ball if he could have, the pain intensifying before slipping back into the 'normal' levels he'd had for the past few weeks. He didn't move or look up until he heard the older woman's disbelieving voice tell them: "It… didn't work." She ran a few more diagnostic spells, the pain decreasing consderably as it passed, "They seem to be rather… permanent Potter, were you able to change back at all during the past two years? No, probably not if Nymphadora had to change you back... I'm guessing you minced a bit of the two signatures of the forms together… Molly can you grab him a glass of water, please."

Harry smiled up at her, beginning to relax again, he watched Mrs. Weasley leave the room and pass into the kitchen. "'s'okay, really," he waved both women off as Hermione and Pofrey both moved closer as he began sitting up, the movemnet pulled uncomfortably at the bruising on his stomach, the pain he had originally felt long faded into just above the normal soreness of bruises. A pain he was used to from pre-cat life. "I'm kind'a used to them anyway," Poppy's frown disappeared as she rolled her eyes as she waved a quick, generic bruise healing spell, the effects were much the same as a spasm of pain shot through Harry.

"Stop!" Remus sighed, "Do you have any spells that are meant to work on Animals? And are safe for use on humans?"

"No… I never learned any, though maybe..." she paused, shaking her head sadly and looking at the two boys who had been her patients so often, "I'm sure Hagrid may-"

"No!" Hermione jumped up, shaking her head to further prove her objections. She looked to Dumbledore, standing just inside the doorway, having came in just a few beats after Madam Pomfrey and Moody had though unnoticed by many. Everyone seemed to be having the same reaction as Hermione; the general consensus was that while Hagrid was a great groundskeeper he underestimated his own strengths too often to try anything on Harry right now. "Can he try a potion?"

"Most certainly not! If a typical spell does _that!_ No, imagine the effect a potion may induce, not to mention what would happen if it was poisonous..." Poppy hissed, "I'll floo Severus, he can check if the cat genes are blocking the spells and if he can even have any of the normal potions. Hagrid would know that, you know," her annoyed voice held a touch of warmth as she spun out of the room.

Harry rolled his eyes and looked around the room, bored. His back was resting against Remus, Sirius seated at his feet; both had one arm rested on top of him and smiling goofily. He spotted a fresh looking Daily Prophet on the table beside his Dogfather and, while the others in the room watched Pomfrey leave to collect Snape with a trailing headmaster on her feet, waved his hand toward him. The paper was summoned into his arms. The cover displayed a rather boring scene of some 'goveners picnic'; a tall angry-looking woman with a monocle waved toward someone with bright white hair that was shaved close to his scalp as he waddled over to her. They seemed to be in a large park, much like Soho, he giggled at the pure giddiness from his day so far.

Harry flipped through the pages until Hermione cleared her throat softly beside him. "Are you hungry, Harry? You came just in time for a late lunch. Or an early supper?"

"Not really, 'Mione." He smiled, he hadn't been lying to Madam Pomfrey, he had only eaten sporadically throughout the past two years unless he was living with some family for a bit. "What happened?"

"Not much," Ron told him, eyes wandering over Harry's bruised torso. They both knew what he was asking, "Cedric was brought back to Hogwarts by Professor Snape, he traced the Cup! the guy 'blacked out' when you guys landed apparently. We found Moody in a trunk in the defence office after the tournament, Pettigrew was caught, they found him trying to buy potion ingredients! But Padfoot's been cleared for a little over a year now, he's been the Defence teacher since Christmas, the other guy just up and left, he was a right bug-"

"Ron." Hermione chided, "Harry, honestly, everyone has been looking for you. We were made prefects; now what about _you, _Harry!" Hermione was almost vibrating with the perceived excitement.

"Uhm, I walked? I didn't see anything interesting, not _really_ anyway. I just…" Harry laughed shakily and tilted his head while his ears and shoulder lifted in a shrug, his voice still rasped slightly, "Tried to find you guys."

"Severus is on his way, my Dear," Dumbledore moved back into the room and this time announced his presence, Pomfrey just behind him. "How are you, my boy. It _has_ been a while, hasn't it?"

Harry grinned at the twinkling eyes of his headmaster, "Fine, and yourself?" He forced back a laugh at the overly polite talk, opting instead to widen his grin in response to the formal reply. Dumbledore conjured a bright pastel coloured chair to sit in while he spoke oddities to the motley group.

Harry winced at a twitch of his ear, the other swivelling about to catch the noises of the house as everyone paused in their conversation to savour the moment.

"Welcome home, Harry." Sirius spoke to him for the first time in two long years, a soft smile on his face; Remus repeated the words. The twins and Ron reated it after followed by the Headmaster while Hermione just patted his leg, his tail coming to rest about her wrist.

"It's good to be back," he whispered, his eyes shining at his family.


	3. Relax

Only six days since I planned to post this... Sorry! I've been rather busy life seems to catch up even with it all written .

Now, I do believe we all get the point and from now on I will NOT be posting any more disclaimers or notes here unless I must. I'll take this last bit to say "thank you" to all my reviewers and readers, I hope you enjoy this!

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><p><strong>The Observatory's Cat<strong>

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><p><em>TOC;<em> Relax?

oOo

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><p>The room sat in quiet companionship until the roar of the floo interrupted them all; while the room bathed in the green glow Mrs. Weasley came in with a tin of still-steaming biscuits, setting them on Harry's lap, and a cool glass of water with a bright pink straw in it. "Eat up, dear. You need them," she smiled warmly, hugging him lightly, "Welcome home."<p>

She stepped back, allowing him his first look at his old Potions teacher. He moved with purpose as he always had as he entered the room, he wore the same black robes and expression. The man raised a brow and stepped closer. "Fascinating. Did you do this yourself, Potter?"

Harry blinked at the congenial tones from the snaky man, the usual vitriol replaced for the first time that Harry could remember; he sipped from his drink, nibbling on a biscuit as he nodded absently watching the man, he didn't remember him acting like this at all; his tail reached out and wrapped around Hermione's hand. He flinched as the Potions master pulled out his wand with a flourish and began to cast spells without delay. Or warning. "What did you find, Poppy? His magic seems to be intact, as does his mind, what little he had anyway. I'll need a blood sample to further…"

Harry tuned him out when he was sure the man was really Snape after that barely hidden jibe. Harry was content with his family and drifted off for an afternoon nap. The last thing he heard was the twins and Ron whispering to each other about the git about loudly.

Harry didn't wake from his nap when someone used a spell to make a slit in his arm for some blood, nor did he wake while everyone whispered about him and their lives, he did; however, wake when Remus brushed against his head, knocking into his crooked ear. The stinging pain was not a pleasant way to wake but one Harry had become somewhat familiar with over the past few weeks, since that little dunk in the Thames, or what he assumed was the Thames since it led him back to London. Harry opened his eyes, blinking blearily at his family. Sirius broke the sudden silence. "Another good thing, Kitty-cat, is that you obviously don't need your glasses anymore."

Confused Harry reached up to pat at his face amid the chuckles of the group, Ron and the twins laughed heartily on the floor while Hermione patted his leg and smiled tenderly. Remus and Molly seemed to continue a conversation they had started whilst he slept and Sirius turned fully to him, grinning. They began a discussion on the newest developments of Hogwarts. Hermione seemed more reluctant to let go or remove her hand and left it on his leg while she turned her head down to continue a book she had in her lap.

"You're going to be so amazed at your old godfather, Harry-boy! I beat down those stupid Slytherins into their proper place, and those kids, the stupid gits over there," He shoved his hand toward the three boys on the floor, Hermione pointedly shaking her head as if to tell Harry that she was not involved in said 'stupid git' list, "tried to start a prank war," he winked at that, "I beat them down before they could get much past changing my perfect hair grey!"

Harry laughed, "You look like Lockhart, tossing your head like that. What did you three 'gits' do?" He looked at the boys again, who all proceeded to jump into what looked like the greatest telling of the most imaginative stories; ones that he knew would be true no matter how fantastical.

"The entire floor of the hall in front of the great hall, you know that huge bit of stone that _everyone _has to pass through if they want to eat? Yeah, we transfigured it into ice! It was charmed to keep any slytherin from staying on their feet, hufflepuff had to do spins to get into the hall! The ravenclaws kept going backwards, even gryffindor was stuck skating on one leg the whole way across!" One twin informed loudly, great pride evident in his voice.

"We charmed Siri's brush! Every time he used it, it would change any hair it came into contact with a different colour! It took him all day to figure out how we did it!" Ron added in response to Sirius' comment.

"The snakes had Medusa hair for a whole weekend, Pomfrey was stuck with half the girls in there with snake-bites for 'aggravating their hair'. Malfoy still doesn't know whether it was us of Padfoot!" The other twin chimed in.

Hermione smiled up at Harry, tapping her fingers against him to talk. While the pranksters reminisced she began telling him about the past Defence teacher and other mundane topics he had missed, she even whispered what speculations the Daily Rag had printed of him for the first few months after his disappearance. By the time the conversations died out Dumbledore had returned with smile blazing and eyes twinkling, to inform everyone that Snape and Madam Pomfrey would return early after breakfast tomorrow and that he would return for lunch after them.

"Now, the two of them decided to contact a third party Healer, everyone; he's apparently well-versed in Muggle first aid and has been working with magical animals for the past few years!" Dumbledore clapped his hand, those his parting words. "If he's able he'll be by tomorrow too."

"That means it's time to eat, Ron, dear, will you help me get the roast out of the oven? Hermione would you set the table? Fred, George, Show Harry to Ron's room, please." Mrs. Weasly stood, clapping her hands and moving toward the kitchen. Harry looked at Sirius, seeing his face fall in a slight frown and glower.

"Molly." He waited for her to turn around, the kids recognized the tone and quickly waved at Harry to sneak into the kitchen behind their Mother, Hermione sighed but followed. "Harry will have his own room, there's plenty of space.""Well, yes…" She seemed slightly surprised, if exasperated, at Sirius, Harry bit his lip and looked at Remus, wondering if this kind of fight was normal. "I'm sure he'll want to stay with Ron, though."

"They haven't seen each other in two years Molly. He'll want the same-" Sirius paused looking at Harry for the first time since the argument began. "Would you like to go pick your own room, Harry? Hermione's on the second floor, the same as Molly, Ron and the twins are on the third with Remus and I. The fourth has the Library and a few other rooms, mainly storage; there's not much on the it, and I haven't been past the landing of the fifth since I was your age, There are a few empty room on the second floor, even one on ours; If you want."

Harry shot a few looks between the two parental figures. He had wanted to ask about this other healer, one who seemed to have switched from magical to muggle means and then to animals if Harry understood what Dumbledore had been saying. Remus shifted behind him, leaning closer to his ears, "You can just go look if you'd like, Harry. They've been arguing about this ever since you fell asleep. If I remember correctly Sirius used to have a green house here, somewhere, it should be easier than a normal room for you after that adventure, hm?"

Gratitude shined in his eyes as Harry turned and smiled at his old professor, not answering either Molly nor Sirius as he climbed the stairs of his new home, he doubted it mattered if he ever returned to Privet drive after the past two years, any protections would have faded after so long without him there in between the school terms; besides he'd made it alone for that long he could handle it again if he had to, even if it was just for summer. He climbed past the first two floors, looking around the fourth floor, the floor that had held Buckbeak last he knew. He peaked into the library, over half blocked off with rope and a parchment sign saying 'cursed'. He snorted and left, wandering into the few rooms of boxes. He meandered into a thin door that was the same as all the others, dark polished wood; he opened the door into a large room with glass walls on all sides, the walls charmed (Harry guessed) to be wide windows, allowing the cacophony of plants to flourish, even the ceiling was charmed the same to reflect the weather outside, currently the slowly setting sun was depicted to the west. He saw what could have been a half-broken ladder in one of the corners opposite the door, but the space above it was covered by the same slightly dusty pane of glass as the rest of the room. Bored of the dead or untamed foliage he left back to the staircase.

They hadn't climbed past this floor while cleaning, Sirius had told them tales about the upper floors being cursed and charmed to the nth degree by his parents and previous ancestors, something that Harry (and many others) had doubted; but everyone had respected them and not passed beyond this floor, _mostly_.

Harry had looked around a bit once or twice after a sleepless night but he hadn't ventured into any of the rooms, the entire manor had more expansion charms and floors than the Gryffindor tower did. Harry skipped going through the boxes and instead went up another floor to the sixth, it was laid out the same as the one below, rooms meant to house or store mainly, a few that seemed to have been in use in the past century had desks in them, one clean and filled with cauldrons and what looked like diagrams and the writing and pictures depicted different scenarios of the potions. He had found the Twin's real room it seemed. He shut the door and went back to the stairs, climbing to the seventh floor, finding only two large rooms, one a huge bedroom with a sitting room and bath attached within, the other a huge formal office; "Found the master bedrooms," he chuckled.

The next floor was the last. It was an attic that ended the staircase. He saw the huge open attic filled with boxes, books, trunks and paintings. There was dust everywhere much like the other two floors had had. Harry moved to where a single shaft of light illuminated the large room, and found a small glass door, more like a window. Confused Harry pushed on it. It gived soon enough and opened. Looking around Harry stuck his head through, looking around again as his eyes adjusted to the dim light, a murky tinge to the room. He found a large, much larger than the attic, room. Harry guessed it was located on the roofs of some of the other buildings on the block. There was tall domed glass all around, encircling the room and, assumably, making it invisible to muggles and other wizards not privy to the Black family manors secrets. Harry climbed through the window fully, spotting a large telescope and several shafts of light that prevailed through the grimy windows and onto the grey stone of the floor. He grinned, looking around for a cloth or something to start cleaning the windows. It definitely wasn't the greenhouse that Remus had mentioned, but it was a large, warm room. It was perfect.


	4. Shopping

This was supposed to be a little bit of fun and angst... and yet it turned into the second longest, just 150 words shy of being the longest.

Please review and enjoy!

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><p><strong>The Observatory's Cat<strong>

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><p><em>TOC;<em> Shopping

oOo

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><p>Harry climbed back into the dirty attic, pushing a few boxes to cover the entrance. He looked around for any bedding or furniture to help fill his room. Remus had practically handed him any room in the house and Sirius said he wanted Harry to feel like it was his home. He smothered a round of giggles with a scowl; he was excited. He'd never had a room to decorate. He'd put crayons and a few little things in his cupboard but that wasn't a room. He hadn't put anything up at Hogwarts; not like Ron with the hundreds of Orange Quidditch posters that had rivalled Dean's on football, or Neville and his index cards.<p>

Harry paused as he thought of his dorm, his _old _dorm; and he wasn't sure if either of those things were still up. His throat constricted painfully. He had no idea what his friends were like now; he knew they were still the same people but people can change a lot in a few weeks. That was something Harry knew well from second year and fourth year. People were fickle; they changed to whatever they wanted to and not all changes were small. Harry could feel panic welling up in him; the thoughts of Hermione not making a colour-coded study schedule or forgoing the library to attend a Quidditch game between anyone but their house, hell even then it was amazing if she went. He closed his eyes as the dust settled from his entrance; he saw through the lids of his eyes the memories he had being warped into strangers.

He couldn't breathe.

He could feel tears welling up, reminding him painfully of the past months and his fears.

He fought the feelings. He knew they were still friends. He… did not know that. Harry paused, his foot hovering on the landing into the Master Floor, deemed so for the lovely Master Suite no longer in use. He gulped. Turned around and went back up into the dust covered alcoves.

He ignored the panicky feelings, he pushed them down to a simmer as he looked about the room. He wanted furniture; he wouldn't think of anything else. Not yet. He'd find some stuff, first. He yawned tiredly as he moved about the attic, finding a large chaise lounge with a bright red stain covering over half of it's expansive cushions. He sat on it, ignoring the slight cloud of dust that lifted from it and sighed; it was comfortable and so he hauled it closer to the window that seemed to act as the door between the rooms. He wondered idly if it was a security measure or just good old Black Family Paranoia for the Telescope Room. He found a small and horridly scratched end-table within a few minutes and moved it into the space beside the lounge. He only found one other article that was still usable without having to go through the boxes, (of which he was sure were cursed or protected in some way), which was what looked like a huge moth-eaten comforter that could easily cover the floor of any of the bedrooms from the lower floors.

He shoved the comforter around to the corner and on top of the lounge and table, effectively losing the light he had been using to see with that emanated from that corner and so made his way back to the gloomy light of the top of the staircase. Harry took a breath, feeling the panic sliding down to a much more manageable place, Harry sighed and folded his ears in annoyance, wincing at the familiar blooming of pain.

He rushed down to the fourth floor and the bathroom across from the library; he rid himself of much of the grim quickly with a run through of his fingers over his hair, the grey colour becoming the normal silky black; his magic spinning from his fingertips around each strand to clean it. Without the dust and grime he could see a much cleaner image, one that was skinny with little ribs poking out and dark splotches of old bruises. He bit his lip; transfixed. He hadn't hurt himself as a cat; not like that. The only reason he could think of for the image was the final task from the Tournament, come to think of it, he hadn't been hurt as a cat when he had finally stopped to take note of himself after his flight. He smirked at the reflection, his appearance had barely changed. He looked _older_, certainly he thought so; especially without his clunky glasses, though the inky ears and tail seemed much younger, his bruised body looked more like a thirteen year olds than an almost-seventeen year olds. Harry growled at the reflection he half knew; he hadn't changed like his family had. It was another way he was… freakish.

His eye widened and the sound cut off suddenly in his surprise. He hadn't meant to actually growl. He opened his jaw wide, as if he could see a box within that was labelled with his voice and the new sounds it seemed he acquired. The bright white teeth looked sharp, he closed his mouth with an audible snap. He smiled as he pushed the thoughts down to the tightly coiled feelings from earlier. He would think about them later; he left the room, not quite clean, but not filthy like he had been when he entered.

He padded down the stairs and the bits of floor in-between them; down to the main floor. He had slipped his shirt back on after shaking out the dust, the material not very comfortable against his skin.

"Where have you been! Supper started twenty minutes ago!" Mrs. Weasley gasped as she swung him into the kitchen and pressed him into the open chair beside Sirius. He tore his gaze away from the woman long enough to see the shocked face of Arthur Weasley, his eyebrows trying to cover his balding head in surprise. Harry folded his ears back; he hadn't expected to see him, though he should have.

"Harry! When-? What-? How did you-?"

"I mentioned this on the floo, Arthur, now eat up, Harry!" Mrs. Weasly shushed at her , pushing a heaping plate toward him. The roast pork steaming with a helping of mash beside it, both covered in thick gravy, the bright green of the vegetables a nice contrast. He heard Sirius mutter into his plate and watched as Remus sighed at him from the seat across the table. Harry smiled at the mother; her hand absently patting him as she turned away from him and toward Arthur, "What were you saying about the new bylaw, Dear?"

"I'm really not hungry Mrs. Weasley," Harry interjected before Mr. Weasley had en opened his mouth in reply, the table stayed silent in wait for Mrs. Weasley's answer as she spun and gaped, both hand flying to her hips. Harry looked at Ron, his open mouth and dripping food back onto his plate, he curled his lip a bit Harry looked to Hermione and the scheming twins, all three of them had stopped what they were talking of as soon as he had been brought into the room. "Uhm, Where's Ginny?"

Harry winced; the others were acting odd and after the thoughts he'd been fighting back that was not something he wanted to think about. Asking for Ginny was…. Stupid. He wanted things to be normal, as normal as they could be after his absence.

"At Luna's, Harry." Hermione quickly answered, "She's been there all summer; they're as bad as Dean and Seamus." Harry's blank look had her quietly adding that 'Luna' was a friend of Ginny's in her year from Ravenclaw. Harry didn't ask about the 'Dean and Seamus' bit, he wasn't sure he would understand anyway.

"Harry. Please eat some." Mrs. Weasley scolded, taking her seat by her husband. Sirius huffed and shot her a 'look' to which she rolled her eyes much like one of the twins would (and did), "Just a few bites, please. You must be hungry after your Ordeal." Harry narrowed his eyes and wondered if she meant him turning into a cat, being absent for the past few years or his nap. None of the options he could list were right.

"He'll eat if-" Sirius began with a snarl, but Remus had a nasty silencing charm on him before much could be said, as the Weasley matriarch tried to speak Harry deduced she, too, was under the spell when nothing came out, not a whisper of a sound.

"I told you two; enough fighting." Remus smiled at Harry. It was a predatory smile that reminded him of the wolf the man hid so well, "I'm done, too. How about we go find some _better _clothes, hmm?"

Nodding enthusiastically Harry jumped from the table and shot into the hall, a pang of loneliness hit him as he realised not a single one of his friends had spoken to him after Hermione. He almost wanted to know if they had been waiting for him to leave the room again. He ran down the hall to the door and shoved the feelings down again. He would not lose his friends due to this… what ever it was.

He stood by the door and waited impatiently for his honorary uncle. Remus soon followed, chuckling. "We have about an hour before it wears off," He winked, "Now, we'll go to muggle London. Wrap your tail around your stomach, just like that, yes," He muttered a quick sticking hex on the appendage, Harry wrinkled his nose, it felt like his fur was covered in mud.

Remus conjured a pullover and a cap for Harry to wear. The bright green pullover was bulky, loose enough to hide the tail if the hex wore off before they were back as long as Harry could keep it under some semblance of control. "Grab hold now, Harry," and with those as their parting words to the adults who were slow to react to their abrupt departure from the kitchen as they appeared in the hall; Sirius in the lead with a mischievous look about his face and Molly at his heels with a stern look. Remus chuckled and, with a wave, they were out the door before any of the Weasleys, Sirius or Hermione (who was pressing to get by the two with some words Harry couldn't make out) could have followed.

Remus was still laughing to himself as he spun and, with the turn, Harry found himself suddenly in a small shopping district, a large store displaying muggle clothing beside him in their posters along the side of the building. They were standing in between a large dumpster and a large steel door, the building across from them was a simple grey that didn't tell them a thing about it. The entrance had a busy street running across, they exited the alleyway and walked into the bright building that had it's posters running all the way around it.

The entire store appeared to be a giant single room, much like a library with dark shelves everywhere. There were certain areas that had banners waving over them, a little thing that made Harry think of the Great Hall and giggle causing Remus to look at him strangely but since he said nothing Harry assumed he was used to random laughter. Perhaps from Sirius. The flags here were similar in that they designated what the area below held.

Harry hadn't ever seen so many different clothes in one place, there were clothes from infant to adult, formal to casual, all in one place. Harry looked to Remus and shrugged confused. He waved his arm to tell him to lead them on. After he laughed at Harry, Remus pressed a hand against the small of his back, leading Harry to the 'Boys' section according to the flags. Harry rolled his eyes, at the man's antics.

Remus stuck his tongue out in response and waved his arms out wide as if Harry had never seen cloths before, "I'll grab some shoes for you, stay here and find some things."

Harry gaped. The man strolled away as though there wasn't forty other people staring at them; probably thinking the two were homeless. Or at least Harry was what with the great baggy sweater and roughed up pants. He glared at the people who quickly moved from his sight. Harry sighed, he didn't want to scare them.

There were at least twelve shelves under the flag and four bright silver circles with shirts and trousers hanging from them, he had no idea where to start. He glared at the fabrics until a pretty blonde woman tapped his shoulder causing him to jump about a foot and squeak like a toddler.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I was just coming to see if you needed help..?" Her eyes were wide, a bright brown much like Hermione's were. Her hair had dark roots beginning to show from the bright blonde. She was a good head taller than he, though a good two inches were from her heels. Harry smiled up at her.

"Please?" Harry made his eyes widen, knowing from his bout as a cat that it worked like a charm to get what he wanted. He ignored that it was a slytherin tactic and smiled wider when an idea struck him. The woman was smiling happily at him so he grinned and pointed at the clothes, hoping that the fact that he was small would help him here, "My Dad went to find… something? I'm staying with him for the summer and, well… we lost my Trunk on the way here…" he looked down, as if embarrassed about the false facts.

"Oh, you poor dear! How old are you, thirteen?" He winced, he thought he looked at _least _15. He nodded at her, "Whats your favourite colour?"

Her excited voice surprised him but he went a long with his plan, even if he hadn't expected it to work, "Well… I like green! And purple."

She quickly spun away and disappeared from his view as she went through the towers of shelves. Harry had time to look at a few of the articles on the sinning rack before she was back, an armful of clothing in her hands. Harry grinned. He wouldn't have to do anything but pick and Remus would get to explain what he thought he was doing, losing his 'childs' luggage and then leaving him there; not to mention what he was dressed like, the shoes that were falling apart and the too-big sweater over the filthy looking pants he wore.

He saw the shaggy hair of Remus coming toward him as the lady returned with some more clothes, he had picked a few from the first batch, a bright green shirt with purple lines that was… interesting and a nice shirt that said 'I howl at the Moon' with a picture of a dozen or so dogs on it; he thought it would be appreciated at the house. Remus was close and waved, a box of what had to contain shoes in his hands.

"Daddy!" Harry yelled, just as Remus came within a few feet and the blonde girl at his arms reach. He hid a grin at the look on the werewolves face when the woman started yelling at him about leaving 'such a dear boy all alone' with no idea what to do. Harry laughed, he must have looked more lost than he had felt among all the clothing.

Remus was playing along, calling Harry 'son' and apologizing to them both. Harry fought down a burst of laughter.

"It was so nice to meet you, honey!" The blonde lady waved and left the two of them, shooting Remus another glare before she disappeared into the maze of shelving and racks.

"You are definitely a Marauder, Harry." Remus laughed loudly as soon as he was sure she was gone, " She was scary."

Harry nodded through his own laughter, "Ready, then?"

"You just have to try it on, then yes, we're done."

Roughly half an hour later Harry was led to the till to pay, three pairs of dark blue jeans and at least six tee-shirts of varying colour, mostly white, and a few with interesting patterns or slogans written across them in his arms; including the ugly purple and green striped shirt the lady had found and the Dog one, Remus had laughed at it; while Remus held a dozen or so pairs of both socks and shorts, with a few warm pullovers and shoes sitting on top the pile precariously. He'd tried to convince Harry to get a few button down shirts, too, to no avail. Harry had protested easily, no one would see him in them seeing as he couldn't leave often.

"Hey, _Dad_," Harry smirked when the blonde woman was seen at the till, waving at them, "How are we paying? We didn't go to Gringotts and I don't have any on me," Harry paled slightly, he hadn't thought about this part of shopping, it had been so long since he'd had to and seeing as they only had a short little man separating them from the cashier it seemed like a good time to find out.

Remus grinned and wiggled a slim little card at Harry,"Padfoot got one of these from the Goblins, he always leaves it laying around," he snorted as the clothes were bagged and the woman asked if they needed a receipt and how they were paying today; Remus handed it to her with a smile, "It's not even hard to borrow it; just don't tell him yet! I'm waiting for the statement to come on the thirty-first." there was laughter in his voice, the lines around his face seemed much cheerier than they had when he was a cat on the table.

They left the story with their bags, Harry called a fond farewell to the blonde and followed Remus into the alley.

"Does he leave it around for a reason, Professor? Like you getting clothes?" Harry giggled, betting that his godfather knew very well that Remus had borrowed his card. Sirius was a Black and had paranoia bred into him as bad as Mad-Eye did, even if he controlled his. The card that Remus had waved about looked just like the muggle credit cards his Uncle had given to his Aunt a few times, whenever Dudley wanted something really.

Apparently Remus hadn't thought of that as his sudden stop indicated, he swore loudly and Harry burst out and laughed as they spun back into Apparation.


	5. Calm before

I have up until the end of the summer written, after that we'll see, haha. There's about 5 more chapters, I keep adding bits here and there...

I got a review asking how Harry knew about Grimmauld, and the easy answer is that he didn't; not _really_, anyway. Padfoot and Remmy sent him letters and in those, Sirius mentioned his house at the 'heart of London' and so on, he mentions SOHO square and a few other things. It's by chance that Harry finds them, really. He would've been found by Remus or Moody at some point with their 'skills' but I doubt that Siri would be listening all that well to Dumbles after knowing he was the Supreme Mugwump and all that jazz and yet didn't think he deserved a trial like the other DE who went and then cliamed the imperious so...

Any other questions?

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><p><strong>The Observatory's Cat<strong>

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><p><em>TOC;<em> Calm before...

**oOo**

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><p>"It's <em>Moony<em>, Harry, or Remus; I haven't been your Professor for a long time now," he grinned while Harry smiled. They went up the few stairs into the manor from the place they had appeared, Remus leaned over to whisper, a conspiratory look on his face, "We should have a few minutes of bliss left, at the least. Be nice, they've been fighting since the tournament."

Harry nodded as he went in, thinking of what he had been told. Absently he pulled off the cap and the pullover, he cast a _look _imploringly at Remus to unstuck his tail. When that was done Harry went into the kitchen, happt to see the kids all laughing and talking while the adults, minus Mr. Weasley, sulking. The Auror, Tonks, was seated beside Sirius madly giggling, Moody had decided to stand near the floo and gazed about with his spinning eye randomly, a half-smile on his face when he nodded at them and nodded. "Tonks, we have patrols to finish, come on," he commanded gruffly.

Harry Blinked at their quick departure but joined Sirius, taking the chair the pink haired girl had recently vacated. "Being Civil, Paddy?" Harry giggled, curling his tail around Sirius who could only attempt to form sound from his silenced tongue. Harry swung his legs off an arm, sitting sideway to face his dogfather, his feet practically on the other man's lap with his tail rapidly clinging to one of the posts on his chair.

Sirius' menacing glare was ruined by his laughing eyes as he tried to speak again but the noise was blocked by Remus' spell, which caused more laughter from them all, he yawned when he finally stopped his laughter; Harry rubbed his eyes, he mused to himself that he would have to get used to being awake for more than a few hours at a time. His journey had been very catlike, with most of the day spent resting and the other times spent running to the next 'stop'.

"Why don't you have a bath and go to bed, Harry? You must be tired." Mr. Weasley smiled, his eyes held a knowing look in them. Harry almost bristled before he realised that the man hadn't read his thoughts but his body language, a skill borne from his seven children, "And welcome back, son." Harry grinned in response, flicking his ears back at him rather than turn around completely to face the father

He raised an eyebrow at Sirius and stuck out his tongue, taunting his godfathers inability to speak. He didn't really _want_ a bath per se... though a nap sounded nice.

"Harry, dear; there are towels in the bathroom, have Ron show you," Mrs. Weasley spoke quickly, her voice gaining surer footing as she noticed the spell gone after speaking the first words. Before Sirius could do more than glare at her Harry was out of the seat and into the hall, calling a loud good-night to the people in the room, the kids all returned the words, as did the two adults not fighting. Harry noticed with a sad pang that Ron hadn't followed him, Sirius' voice boomed as he jumped the first few steps, a shrill voice following.

Harry shook his head, he was _so_ not showering, his skin crawled at the thought of all the water that would be on his, beading through his fur. It hadn't seemed quite so bad down at the table, but up here, as the ftairs carried him higher in the old house, it seemed... wrong.

He shuddered and made sure no one was watching or following him as he made a hasty run through one of the 'spare' bedrooms and grabbed as many pillows and blankets that he could carry, and, when he had as many as he could, he bolted up through the staircase. He sighed heavily, slowing only after he passed the fourth floor, the final one that was occupied at some point by the members of the house currently, and made his way up into the attic. He was pretty sure he would be left alone until morning, no matter where he slept; but that glass room on the roof was calling him, a soft sibilant thought. It was like being outside again, like being in the wide country, but still in his home. Or what was becoming his home rather quickly. As the familar panic rose again he shunted it down and ignored the 'why' of what he was doing.

Harry smuggled the bedding up and dumped it on the floor, a soft grin on his face. He shoved the chaise lounge and end table away so that he could open the window, the dim light of the fading sun was perfect to see with and he shoved all the bedding through the opening before trying to fit the table through after. To his pleasant surprise the rectangle widened and seemed to swallow the piece of wood followed by the lounge he levered into it. The soundless magic of the house made his muggle-upbringing rear up again and Harry guessed most doorways or such in a wizarding home would do the same, to prevent sctratched walls or funiture.

He crawled in after both the lounge and table were through and pushed it all into the middle of the room to rest beside the Telescope, before leaving in search of some rags and a bucket. He'd gotten a few more 'clean' spots to see out of but he hadn't made much of a dent. More of a bump in the dent. He didn't care if the floor was making the bed dirty, he wanted to see through the gloom first. He could just shake the loose articles out, not like they were clean first anyway. He moved to leap through the window but his foot slid on the dust and he crashed, thankfully fro him, near soundlessly into the wall next to the opening. He winced and decided, as he climbed through, that the floor would have to be first.

He didn't want to ask anyone so he went digging on the next floor down, the Master Suite on the Seventh floor. Harry soon found a small bucket under the sink in the master bath, a few washcloths and towels hanging from a rack on the wall. Kreacher must have continued setting the rrom up, or never moving the stuff, after the late Walburga passed. He took them after filling the bucket half-full with hot water, a bit of the liquid soap from the counter poured in before he carried it carefully up the stairs and through the window and was set to work. He ignored the hot water on his skin, the pain of the temperature; his ten years with the Dursley's were good for this, ignoring pain and getting things done.

He cleaned the floor with a dry towel to get most of the surface dust, opening one the windows for a bit more light in the fading afternoon. He discovered that the floor tiles were actually a light blue and purple, not grey, and had little bits of black stone set in them along with larger pieces of a bright white stone. Harry cleaned the huge window pane above the spot perpendicular to where he had pushed the Lounge, just one away from the one he'd opened, with the same dry towel he had used on the floor. He threw another into the bucket, wringing it out he quickly ran it over the floor, the window twice and, after a moment of deliberation, the window again, getting rid of nearly all the grime he could reach.

Harry huffed and threw the cloth down tiredly. The first towel, the dry one, was a fuzzy grey mottled with darker spots while the first wet one was a soggy mess of grey sludge, thie, the third one, was a pale grey, the cleanest by far. He growled at the window and blinked, the pane he'd been cleaning was pristine, as was the open one beside it. He blinked again, surprised. He had only been able to reach half-way, maybe two-thirds of the way to the top plus whatever he had done was streaked before. Harry laughed lightly as more of the light faded, he was surrounded by greyish dirt on the windows; all but the two he had glared at. Harry cleaned the Lounge and covered it with the huge blanket that had been first on the floor, folded multiple times, before setting the cleaner bedding overtop of that. He left the uppermost blanket down at the foot of the 'bed' and quickly wiped the end table off, setting it beside the chaise in the cleaned spot. Stifling another yawn he made his way to the window that led into the manor, he tossed the last, clean since he hadn't used it yet, towel over it and shut it slightly so no light would escape. Harry divested himself of his pants, leaving only his shorts on, and settled into the nest he had made. He pulled the blanket over himself, contently purring as he slipped into sleep.

The last view he saw was the twinkling of a star, the clean randomly spotted floor with it's glowing white-stones and the dusty telescope, marking the parts he had cleaned. The grey floor surrounded the telescope and the area beyond that. The only clean path was to the 'door' from his bed. Harry smirked into the evening as he planned the rest of the room, imagining a climbing plant around the door instead of a towel, clean floors gleaming with their glowing stone and golden telescope spinning to face the stars through glass unmarred.

Harry missed the callings of his name, the near panic when he couldn't be located mere minutes after he had begun cleaning.

**oOo**

The bright sun shining onto his face woke Harry. Stretching and slipping off the lounge he rolled onto the floor taking the blanket he was wrapped in with him; he stood and shut the window, the room quite cool now with the dawn. He walked around the large room, perhaps half the size of the great hall from Hogwarts, the large telescope appeared bronze and not gold in the welcome light, the pedestal it stood on was a large circular platform, the bright light making it shine through the grime the same as the white stone beneath his feet inlaid through the blue-toned floor panels. Harry moved back to his nest, sitting on the bundle and looking at the area he'd cleaned. There was a plain black tile just beneath the lounge, looking strangely out of place in the light of dawn when he compared it with all the glittering tiles of the rest of the room. He tapped it with his tail, more a brush than a 'tap' really. A brinze coloured handle appeared. Harry jumped his tail back up, holding it between his hands. He peered down at it, knowing he should be worried, scared, something, about the appearance of a handle in the floor regardless of where he was in the Black Manor, but he wasn't. Harry chuckled, "Curiousity killed the cat," he whispered and manouvered himself to rest on the floor beside the panel with the handle.

He had to push his nest of a bed back a few hand-lengths to open the tile.

It led to a ladder, the scent of overgrown flora invaded his nostrils. Wrinkling his brow Harry slid into the Green house, closing the tile afterward. He walked a few paces, and returned, climbed the ladder and pressed on the inoccuous spot, the tile lifted. He grinned, a whisper escaped, "Satisfaction brought it back!"

He had another doorway, it was a shortcut that skipped two floors and much of the dusty areas. Harry giggled and went back into his room, pulling one of the half-clean towels on and went down to collect his bags. They were beside the door, just were he and Remus had dropped them, Harry was mildly surprised to see everyone still asleep until he saw the early hour displayed on the large wooden grandfather clock. He carried his clothes up through the green house and into his room, the thought that he had his own room was euphoric, he had to agree with Sirius, it was different sharing a room than having your own, anywhere. It felt more like home when you had your own space. He dressed in one the jeans, happily noting that someone, probably Remus, had added a hole for his tail. Harry pulled on a plain white shirt and cleaned up in the bathroom before heading downstairs to wait for the rest of his family to wake, hands lifting through his hair to vanish the dust, the same as he had done before, as he entered the main floor.

Harry toyed with an Orange while he waited, pawing it quickly from hand to hand, rolling it hard across the table. He'd nearly missed and shot it off into the hall a few times before Mrs. Weasley's shriek surprised him enough that he did lose the control and had to watch the fruit roll into the hall. Near mesmerized he chased after it, he would have run over the proud matriarch if she hadn't moved, jumped, onto the stair case as he swept past her. He didn't hear her second shout of his name, a surprised cry from her as he crashed to the floor to get the edible ball. He caught the orange and stalked back into the kitchen, inordinately pleased with himself. "Good morning, Mrs. Weasley!" he chirped.

"G-Good morning, Harry, dear," she moved past him with an air of caution and toward the fridge, "Where did you sleep last night?"

"Are you interrogating him this early, Molly?" Sirius came into the room, dressed in his nightclothes; a faded set of plaid pyjamas, followed quickly by everyone else, Harry assumed they came to investigate her shrieking from when she saw him, the sound that had made him lose his ball he glared lightly in his mind. Sirius looked annoyed still. And tired. "He can tell us after we eat, I think toast and tea work this early."

The twins were looking at him oddly, one of them lifted another orange and tossed it into his palm a few times, Harry stared, eyes watching the bright orb move. Tranfixed on the slightest motion from the sphere. "Hey, Gred; I do believe our ickle Harry has a bit of a fascination for balls, don't you?"

The other twin caught the thrown fruit and nodded sagely when Harry's eyes shot toward him. The other occupants were now watching the display; Mrs. Weasley with a look of utter tripidation as she made slight motions with her hand. Harry licked his lips, tilting his ears back and leaning forward, tail twisting around behind him. "Let's test this, eh, Forge?" and with those lovely words the twin with the orange stepped from the door way and tossed it down toward the living room, right past Hermione and Ron.

Harry launched after it brushing his godfathers side, a deep growl rumbling from his chest as he shot past them, knocking Ron back and barely missing Hermione dead-on in the pursuit of the Great Orange. There was a crash and everyone followed Harry into the main front room, seeing the table that usually rested beside the arm of a couch over turned and Harry sitting where it had been moments before, happily tossing the orange from hand to hand. The quiet made Harry look up at them, a great grin plastered on his face as he waved the orange, "I got it!"

The four adults just walked back into the kitchen with their head shaking, the twins stared at Harry with their mouths open while Ron and Hermione climbed the stairs, both muttering about getting dressed for the too-early meal. Harry frowned and looked to the twins; the only people besides him still in view, "I don't understand?"

"Well…" one began, to be interrupted by his twin starting at the same time, "You see-" They shared a look and the first one continued, "It's not quite seven. It's summer; you see! You, little Harry, are running around dressed and chasing balls after a long sojourn, brother."

The twins nodded to the other, both turned to face Harry after, "It's summer, it is! We sleep in as late as we can, not get up before we would'a at Hogwarts!"

"Uhmm?" Harry felt his ears droop, their explanations really only confused him further, "It's too early?"

"Exactly."

"I'll help cook then," Harry informed them, much to their confusion, brushing past them into the kitchen and, after setting the orange between his bleary-eyed godfather and the werewolf who was reading from the Prophet, Harry turned to face the stove and the matriarch, "What can I do, Mrs. Weasley?"

"You can call me Molly, for one, dear. Sit down, sit! Catch up with everyone, I've got this," she smiled, patting his head, causing Harry's ear to burn lightly, and pointing to Remus, with a chuckle she told him "I've done it for more years than you've been alive, dear."

Harry grinned, jumping into his godfather's lap. "Padfoot!" He threw his arms around the older man's neck, "Can I have the room upstairs?"

The wide-eyed man stared crookedly at him; tired eyes suddenly focusing and waking up again, Harry could see Remus trying not to laugh from the corner of his sight, Sirius nodded, brow furrowed, "Of course Pup!" His eyes sparked, "I guess I can't call you that anymore, can I!" he gave a shout of bark like laughter. Harry chuckled, watching the twins slip into a pair of seats, staring at him still as though he would turn into a cat-

Harry froze, "Can I turn back?"

It was obvious to him that everyone was confused by this sudden statement, Harry chuckled, the others, not privy to his thoughts, looked even more confused and Mister Weasley was now looking rather alarmed at him from his seat across from Remus, facing his wife. Molly had even turned around, looking sad, pityingly at him. "Into a cat?" Remus asked, the first to recover his tongue from the sudden topic switch and the first to catch up. Harry nodded vigorously. "I'm sure you could, with practise."

Harry sighed in relief, sticking his tongue out at the other Marauder who was laughing hard enough to shake Harry. "Can I have some milk?"

"Do you need a bowl?" Sirius asked between guffaws, he had recovered from his shy, 'touch-sensitive' Harry, jumping into his lap so suddenly and had wrapped a loose arm around his waist to help keep his balance. He received a glare for his joke from both Molly and Harry, the latter smirking slightly whilst the rest of the room laughed loudly, even as Ron and Hermione came in and sat down amid the noise in a bubble of confusion.

"Only if I can put my name on it," Harry hissed softly in rebuttal. Hermione and Ron looked at the other in confusion, before they turned to the twins for clarification.

This just sent the twins into further laughter, Remus had to stop when Harry was suddenly dropped into his lap when Sirius stood and retrieved a bowl.

"Sirius Black!" Molly shrieked as he set the brightly coloured ceramic bowl in front of Harry and Remus. Remus stuck his tongue out at Sirius as he wrapped one arm around Harry and the other flipped the page on his paper; a smirk in place when the man took his seat again only to find that Harry wasn't joining him again, with an exaggerated roll of his eyes he snorted and tapped the bowl.

The shriek was ignored as Harry was tossed a thick black pen by one of the twins, "Come on Harry!"

"Harry!" she shrieked, before she turned quickly to the burning eggs that were beginning to smell and smoke quite badly.

Harry stuck out his tongue, "So... _Harry_ or _Kieran, _Padfoot?"

"Harry, of course! You lost that nasty tag when you turned back," the tall Black replied in all seriousness, he shook his head, "Make sure it's big enough to be read by Albus, Cat."

He wrote his name in large, bold lettering; going over each line multiple times to thicken his scrawl. He set the bowl down on the table, only for Remus to pick it up again as his paper fluttered onto the table forgotten. Harry stuck his tongue out at his godfather. "Better, Mutt?" Harry hissed, laughing at the shocked looks around the room. Harry didn't feel like anything had changed between him and his Marauders, but it seemed his friends all had different ideas. He wondered if it was the ages, to the older men a few years was nothing when compared to the younger peoples view on the passing of time. Even Harry's was different, his ideas skewed by years of living in a cupboard, going months without seeming a friendly face, years for one he recognized other than Ms. Figg. Sirius' too, considering Azkaban; Remus had been alone, as far as Harry knew, since Voldemort was 'defeated' when Harry was one.

"Much, _Cat_." The bowl was handed back to Sirius, Remus having reached across Harry to hand it directly to him. "What'd you do to it, Moony?" Sirius asked suspiciously as he held the bowl away from his face.

Harry looked back with a raised brow at the tolerant face of the werewolf, "I put a few unbreakable charms on it, no-fade spells on the writing and colour, added some fish, just normal stuff, really."

Harry nodded along with Moony, showing a united front to Padfoot before the words caught up with him and his movement stuttered to a halt, "Wait, what _fish_ Moony?"

Harry blushed when he realised that that was the first time he'd called the man that, Remus seemed to be thinking the same thoughts since his arm tightened and he smiled brighter in encouragement, "Well, Kitten, I added some little fish to swim around the bowl. He picked the blue one, so it's his fault. Should I have added an Orange or two?"

Harry's ears drooped, a blank look on his face, he mouthed 'oranges' and turned to the Sirius who was giggling like mad and clutching said bowl now much closer to his face as he moved around behind Harry and Remus, "You _animated_ my bowl?" to which Remus nodded enthusiastically, Sirius set the bowl in front of him, it was half full of milk. He rolled his eyes but drank from the bowl, using it as a cup much to the disappointment of Sirius who must have assumed he would lap it up like a cat. Mr. Weasley chuckled and meft the room, thudding lightly on the stair.

"Would you like some birds on it, Harry?" Moony chuckled, ignoring Harry's glare and the loud laughter, "Oh, a snitch!"

After a short growling match between Harry and Remus, (The werewolf won), breakfast consisted mainly of Molly holding her head in her hands with a large bowl of slightly burnt eggs, bacon and a bundle of toast before them; until Arthur came back down, hair damp and smelling of the soap from the shower; then she gave him a kiss and a travel-mug of tea and ushered him through the floo to work. The small talk consisted of Harry's adventures in the small towns and countryside of England.

**oOoOoOo**

Harry had been pulled aside by the two Marauders not long after the meal had finished. He found himself in the greenhouse on a conjured couch sandwiched by the two men and facing a rather dismal looking plant that Harry had a feeling would eat him if he got closer. He had to fight to keep his eyes from traveling to the ladder and the tile that led to his room, the room Sirius had given him earlier, he thought with a wide smile.

"We spoke to Dumbledore the first winter you were gone," Sirius began, wincing as he spoke; as if Harry would be mad about this.]. Harry was pulled into a hug, Remus patting his legs as the were manoeuvred onto his Godfathers lap. "I told him what I knew of the Dursleys, Ron had mentioned the bars from that window and Hermione said something about your cousin, both of them had mentioned a _cupboard_. Ron actually said you didn't like the dark too much, too…" Remus smacked the ex-con, muttering at him not to ramble, both with pink cheeks to match Harry's. "Anyway, this is your home, now, too. If you need to collect anything from those muggles we can go anytime, they already know you won't be returning… Knew for a while now, I'd say..."

Remus jumped in as Sirius trailed off, "The Weasleys are here while the Burrow gets some new wards installed, Bill and Charlie, their eldest sons, are doing bits of it; But we just wanted you to know, fully, that this was your home. We've been cleaning most of the past few years to get rid of most of the cursed objects, they're down in the Lab and dungeons in the basement so don't go down alone and Harry, if you need to talk, on _anything_-"

Harry nodded, his face bright and eyes distinctly wet. "Thank you, both of you," He whispered, inturupting Remus. Their little Family-Feel-Good moment was interrupted by Molly hollering that Poppy was there from too-close-for-comfort in the hall.

Harry raised an eyebrow in challenge to Sirius and while Remus counted quickly down from three, his head in his hands, they shot out of the room, a dark black dog racing past Harry as the got closer to the stairs. Not to be out done Harry jumped, arms stretched over his head, and arrowed down to the landing of the next floor, hands cusioning his landing as he rolled across the brief landings between the staircases and jumped upright, doing the same until he reached the main floor, the stoic visage of Madam Pomfrey on the couch startled as he rolled into her view. "I won!" Harry looked up, seeing a pale Sirius standing, human once more, on the second floor landing, one hand gripped over his heart, an even paler Moony trailed down after from the stairs. _"What?"_

They shook their heads, climbing down to sit on the couch, collapsing onto it. Harry chuckled, flopping down onto them with a loud laugh.

"You need to put on some weight, Cat." Sirius grumped.

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><p><em>I must tell you all this. This was, <span>again<span>, supposed to be a 'short chapter'. It's now the longest by about 2k... hahah..._

**oOoOoOoOo**

_**AN:** Well_... A bit of a wait, I apoolgize. FF wouldn't let me load my story and it pissed me off so... sorry.

Anyway; there is only pre-slash in the summer. Haha, It can even be ignored! XD Now I need to edit the previous notes... *sigh*

Now, thankyou all reviewers and such, you can expect another chapter of this and of _Scarves_ before wednesday morning! Woo!


	6. Meeting

**The Observatory's Cat**

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><p><em>TOC; <em>Meetings

**oOo**

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><p>Harry wriggled on his godfathers lap to get comfortable, sticking out his tongue at the man as he sputtered down at Harry. He waved in greeting as Madam Pomfrey entered the room, dressed the same as the previous day. "How are you feeling, Mr. Potter? Much better I suppose," she huffed to herself, casting a quick succession of diagnostic charms, "You seem to be the same as yesterday, any new developments?"<p>

Remus and Sirius shared a glance, pausing to answer, as the twins entered from the kitchen and sat on the other couch, all four seemed to share a look and all of a sudden Harry felt exetremely left out until they all nodded as one and turn to face the woman, chorusing 'yes' to the mediwitch.

Harry glared at them all.

"Want to see one of 'em?" One of the twins asked slyly, leaving Harry to frown deeper while the other twin told her, "He likes oranges," as if it answered anything

"He has _always_ preferred fruit Mr. Weasley, and _no_, I do not." She turned back to Harry, smiling slightly after erasing the frown from dealing with the Weasley twins, "Professor Snape sent an owl to tell us that he and that young Healer he mentioned yesterday will be joining us soon; don't worry, he was such a bright young lad when I met him. Now, is _anything_ hurting? Tender?"

Harry shook his head, his ears twitched and pined themselves down as he did so, elicting laughter from the twins and Maurauders while simultaneously sending another burning sensation down his ear, which made him sigh and press against it's base; only to pull away when it increased the sting rather than remove it, "I fell in the river a few weeks ago, my ear's been hurting since, uhm, about the same time..."

She tutted, placed one hand on her hip, and cast a few centralized diagnostic spells at his ear. When nothing came up that changed her posture or expression she moved to stand just inches from him and looked in the ear but sighed, "My spells really don't show anything, but I don't know if they're meant to work on cats…" she trailed off before she turned and left the room just as the floo signalled. Ron and Hermione passed her as they entered, sitting beside the twins, the four of them immediately began to chatter about something, mentioning a woman named Umbridge and the Lovegood girl Ginny was with.

Molly came in with a small plate of biscuits. She handed them straight to Harry, setting the tray on his lap, and patting his knee lightly. His tail moving in a light thump, "Eat up, dear," He smiled up at her with a whispered 'thank you'. His sight was blocked by the mother of seven so Harry missed the re-entrance of Pomfrey and the entrance of Snape and the Healer he was supposed to bring. He missed the shocked looks on his family and friends faces as they caught sight of the two, too busy with his moment with the matriarch to see past her.

As she moved away though, his ears shot up in shock, sending a shiver of -_ow damnit!-_ down his head. Snape was the same as ever, or as Harry had known him, lank greasy hair hanging to his shoulders, piercing black eyes drilling harshly into whatever they saw; the hooked nose and pale colouring on the sallow-skinned Slytherin... he really hadn't changed a bit in the past two years.

The healer beside him was the shocker, he looked to be the same age as the pink-haired girl he had 'met' yesterday. His black hair was short and stuck up at the top and leaned toward the front in small spikes, as if caught in a draft of warm air; his eyes mirrored Snape's with a more mischievous look to them, but built the same as Snae was, but where Snape wore black, the younger man wore a light olive robe over muggle clothing, his face was _just_ slightly different than Snape's, his nose smaller and straight, the jaw not quite as defined. Harry's tail curled tighter around him, there were two Snapes in front of him. There was no mistaking **that**.

"Now, Harry, this is Healer Nathan Snape," Madam Pomfrey gestured at the man, he smiled slightly and nodded to the shocked group, "He's used to working with magical animals so-"

"I'm not an _'animal' _!" Harry growled, sitting up as laying down in the presence of the two seemed wrong.

"Some would beg to differ, Potter," Snape commented dryly, receiving eye rolls from Harry and Nathan, glares from the kids and Marauders while Pomfrey and Molly sighed at the man.

"Nathan, would you check his left ear, please? He says it's been bothering him," Pomfrey waved her hand toward him as a kind of 'all yours' gesture, "the usual diagnostic spells I use come back as clear."

The younger Snape gave a mild glare at her, showing everyone that Snape's glare was either hereditary or able to be taught as he did so, "You can't use a spell like that, they're designed for humans, you have to actually take a look with animals."

"You have a son?" Harry blurted, eyes wide as the man came toward him, he ignored Hermione's chastising hiss of his name as he stared at the elder man. Nathan paused in his approach, an amused look on his face for the first time since he entered, after a pause he continued toward Harry.

"It _would_ appear so, Potter. Yes."

"How?" He blurted, bring both his hands to cover his mouth as he stared at his old teacher in shock. He seemed to be unable to reconnect his brain with his mouth. Both Sirius and Snape snorted, the latter then ran a hand to hold the bridge of his nose in exasperation it seemed.

"I thought you said he was a bright one, Dad?" Nathan cocked an eyebrow at Professor Snape, moving into Harry's space and standing just within hands reach. Close enough that Harry could wrap his tail around the man if he wanted. "Have you never had the whole _Bird-and-Bees_ Talk yet?"

"No! That's not what I meant!" Harry blushed bright red, he shot his eyes to either Marauder for help. Both were too busy enjoying his discomfort to offer any kind of assistance; although Remus seemed to have a bit of sympathy for Harry as he looked away guiltily.

"Good. Well then, Mum's a few years older than him-"

"Nathan! They do not need to know," Snape hissed as he removed his hand from his face, glaring at his son with his mouth twitching. Almost as if to hide a smile. Harry blinked, wondering if he had missed something major. Maybe Snape being given some 'happy pills'. That made him snort, bringing some attention back to himself.

Harry, while staring at Snape as if he would suddenly become Trelawney and dance with her odd incense-cloud that he remembered vaguely as blue, found himself suddenly looking at the clean, black shoes of Nathan and the bare feet of Remus. Harry felt a hand on his head, another moving his ear; after a few seconds Harry realised two very important things, the main one being that this stranger was touching him, had _pressed_ his head down; the second, _maybe_ more the more important one, was that the floor was not that interesting.

Harry moved based on instinct alone, the floor disappearing as he thrashed to get away from the, surprisingly gentle hands. He twisted himself and brought his feet under him, claws springing from his nails as he moved to jump, the irrational movement was brought to a sudden stop, the entire process taking maybe a half-minute, when Remus hauled him onto his lap, his feet hanging off the arm of the couch while his face was pressed into the werewolf's thin shoulder. His tail lashed about angrily. Harry felt Sirius shift closer and grab his hand, the other resting on his back. There was a loud rushing noise in Harry's ears and he could feel the breath and the movements of Remus and Sirius as they calmed him, but he couldn't hear anything over the sound of his blood pulsing rapidly.

The hand returned, holding his ear still as he moved it around, the grip was firm and gentle, the same as it had been before and it was warm. Harry growled, he couldn't hear and wasn't sure what he thought about the stranger touching him. He wrinkled his nose, hissing as the hand sent a rush of pain through his ear, he could feel the change in the two men holding him, Remus tensed and jumped slightly, his grip tightening, Sirius was shaking… _Laughing_, most likely, Harry hissed again at the thought.

Harry felt his tail snap into the man twice again before it was grasped and held for a moment; let go after a squeeze. Another loud hiss caused Remus to slide the hand that had been pressed into his shoulders and neck up to the back of his head, pressing it against his shoulder with a bit more force than before. Harry felt Nathan move and pear into the other ear before his presence disappeared.

Slowly, minutes or hours could have passed before Harry began to hear again, the cacophony of voices tunnelled slightly, distorting the noise before it became normal, even his tail stopped it's flicking to rest on someones, probably Sirius', lap. Harry took a few deep breaths, he was growling, he realised and stopped though much of the anger had left not all had.

Remus loosened his grip enough for him to wriggle out and into the spot Sirius had been sitting in as he moved over, back to his original place. Harry spun around, eyes whipping around the area right in front of him, the only people within remote touching distance were the men beside him, the ones who'd held him down throughout the process.

Harry growled again, the rumbling covering a yawn at the sudden expenditure of energy over his reactions. He looked at the two Snapes. Both were standing near the other couch, backs against the wall and pointedly not looking at him.

No one was, actually.

This realisation allowed him to calm even more. Harry saw Pomfrey walk, as far away from their couch as she could get without climbing over the four still sitting on the couch opposite, the table pushed closer to Harry's side of the room. Hermione was staring wide-eyed at the floor while the twins and Ron were pale and staring fixedly at the table between them, eyes darting up every so-often to gauge the room though not looking at him, he noted. Harry sighed, looking at the stairs with open longing. He wanted to sleep, he didn't care about his ear as long as the younger Snape left it alone. As long as everyone left it alone.

Harry felt Sirius moving beside him, his larger hand resting on his shoulder, he flicked his head in the direction of the upper floors, "Go on up, just come back for lunch, Cat." He paused, "A few hours, three?" Remus nodded in answer.

He frowned at the tension in his godfathers voice, uncertain if it was because of him, or at least was until the barely contained look of anger shot to peer at the two Snapes.. Harry nodded, relieved at the notion of getting away from all the people. "Okay, Mutt," he tried to smile, though it didn't really work and looked more like a grimace. Harry shied away and neatly ran up the stairs, going straight for the greenhouse, that way much quicker than the full way through the attic and two extra floors. He didn't look back.

He was just passed the second floor landing when he heard Remus inform the Mediwitch and the others in the room, "His pupils were slit just… like a cat. Before, you know, when _he_-" Harry shuddered as he made his way to his nest, longing desperately for a nap and to be alone. He didn't want to know if Remus spoke of him or Nathan with the 'he' but he thought it was the latter, not himself.

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><p><strong>AN: I'll be gone for a week so next chapter in about 8-10 days, thank you so much for all the alerts, favourites and reviews!<strong>


	7. PainRelief

**AN at the end for anyone interested.**

I do apologize for the wait, in adavnce, and would like to give thanks to all who read TOC and have been waiting.

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><p><strong>The Observatory's Cat<strong>

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><p><em>TOC;<em> Pain_/_Relief

oOo

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><p>Harry was laying on the pile of cushions and blankets, the window had remained open and the sun worked at warming the large space. He smelled a hint of food, and had a vague sound reach his ears, like people were moving below him. Or, perhaps, mice and finches that were waiting to be caught. He stayed in a state of drifting, calm and content. Harry could just taste the warm meal he dreamt of.<p>

He was jerked from his little bubble of half-awareness by a surprised yelp of "There you are!"; the disbelief and amusement were evident in the voice.

Harry slipped from his nest as he bolted into an upright position, something that was made much harder than normal by the sheer amount of blankets on top of him. He managed to get one arm below him and held himself in an awkward position, with his head just above the tiles and above his arm while the lower half of his body still lay twisted under the blankets. Remus had his tawny head sticking from the tile Harry had gave up closing since a piece of his blanket was stuck in the 'hinge' and he didn't have the patience to deal with it mere hours before. Harry grit his teeth, backing away from Remus; ridiculously frustrated he'd been found up here even though he'd been given vague 'permission'.

With a wince Remus looked at him warmly, he had obviously noted Harry's discomfort and slightly hostile appearance (even though there wasn't much he could do laying like he was), "I'm going, Kitten, now lunch is ready and you don't want everyone coming trying to find you, do you?"

Harry bit his lip, nodding. He relaxed as much of the irrational feelings ebbed. He just felt embarrassed now at his behaviour and position. Harry flushed and rolled down to stand at the open tile.

When Remus moved down Harry followed. He looked to one of the last remaining Marauders, "How did you, uh… I'm sorry."

"I have _at least _as good of a nose as you do now, Harry. I followed your scent into the Green house. And you've nothing to be apologizing for, really. Cats are naturally attracted to higher places, makes them feel superior I've found," Remus winked.

Harry laughed and stood by the door while Remus sealed the tile again, he wasn't too lazy to push the fabric back. "Well, I s'pose Snape was right on that then," he chuckled, reminded of his first day of the first year potions class.

They made their way into the kitchen, Harry had, after Remus ensured the tile was firmly shut, even moved the ladder a square to the left and back two; he had run back to do so the moment Remus passed him to leave the room. The man had simply raised a brow and laughed.

Harry wasn't the least bit irritated when they entered the kitchen to find it filled, Sirius had two open seats, but the rest seemed to be filled. He was rather embarrassed at his prior behaviour, but had already decided it was the fault of both parties.

In the large room the two made their way to their seats. The twins and Ron on one side, the Snapes and Hermione on the other of the large wooden table. Harry sat next to Hermione, his ear flicking down at the noise.

Harry smiled as a glass of milk was passed to him, and he couldn't help remembering the very first taste of the substance after the Graveyard. He'd been a cat a few weeks and had made it to a larger town; one that was a substantial distance away at that time to Harry. Now he'd say it was a miniscule trip. There was a tiny, scrawny girl watering a few flowers beside a park at the edge, she was the cutest little kid Harry had seen, tiny curls half-braided and a soft shade of auburn, she wore a little petticoat with a frilly blue dress over it and the widest, darkest eyes he'd ever seen. She saw him before he'd even made it toward the water he'd heard.

At that time he'd just barely been able to use his paws for much and had been struggling to walk, let alone hunt. He'd lived on scraps and carcasses he'd found; this was the first clean water he'd found in the days since the Graveyard.

The girl had seemed ecstatic and grabbed him, he'd been to slow to get away. The little girl, who had named him Fluffy and carried him, and the water bucket which was a rather uncomfortable trip, to her little house. It was a happy little home, white picket fence and tall trees and all that, and the little girl spoke as she carried him up and through the door. She was called Elsie and she loved 'her little kitty-cat' and she would love him and her family and especially her Da because he made the best cookies, but don't tell that to her Mum. She was sweet and Harry could have thanked her when she set him down, because as sweet as she was this was still too close and he needed to get away. Until she coaxed him from his hiding place under the table of her kitchen after he'd spent what felt like hours trying to find a way out, with a small tea saucer of milk.

And that was the first home he'd ever lived in.

He hid a soft whimper. He'd flicked his ear again, and it hurt more than before it had been touched. Back when he could ignore the small burning and bursts of actual 'ouch'. Harry smiled at the milk he had before him, vaguely wondering if Elsie missed him like he missed her. He'd had other homes, but she would always remind him of the perseverance he'd faced, how she hadn't given up when he hid or ran or when her Mum told her she couldn't keep him. He had ended up staying nearly half a year getting used to the tiny family of three and his own four paws.

Molly smiled brightly as she passed by and took her own seat across from Sirius and between the elder Snape and one of the Twins, all Weasley boys seemed to have lost their colour since the morning. Harry dished himself up one of the sandwiches, drinking some of his milk, content to let the conversation flow around him while he reminisced; maybe he'd write her.

Nathan had other plans. "You ran off too fast," his words brought a lull to all conversation. Harry prickled and leaned forward to see him better, narrowing his eyes slightly, more so as he realised how stupid he was to think of writing to a girl he'd ran away from after she'd been so nice to him. When he was a kitten. "I wanted to know, _did _you pour sewage into your ears?"

Harry dropped his mouth, he glared and pulled back his ears, he hissed "I fell in the Thames, if you need to know."

Nathan quirked an eyebrow, "And you couldn't keep your head up? Clean yourself? That water's pretty much sewage if you ask me."

"No one asked you. And, to make a long story short, I was being chased by some kids, I didn't have much of a choice," Harry sat back, turning his chair to better ignore the man. He saw the worried looks from Remus and Sirius and sighed. He didn't like that day, he didn't want to think about the kids so much like his cousin and his 'Harry Hunting'. He had a lot of days like that. That was all after Elsie, a good while after. He'd thought of her, and her comforting little arms a lot when he'd been scared, chased, hurt and, especially, when he wanted a sip of milk or cream. Or even food.

The rest of the meal passed in between lulls of conversation that was mainly from Hermione, Molly, Ron and the elder Snape. It seemed that the four of them were the only ones affected by the awkward silence. Harry chuckled to himself once, and received a good round of looks about it, when he thought of Snape not liking silence if he wasn't the cause of it. Harry remained quiet the rest of the time, he scarcely touched his sandwich much to Remus' displeasure and Sirius' anger; both shot disapproving looks to whoever spoke or just at Nathan Snape in general.

After everyone seemed to have finished and begun to get antsy, Madam Pomfrey entered with a roar of the floo, holding a sickly green potion. Both Molly and Snape sighed in relief at her timely entrance.

"I remembered to grab it for you. You're lucky Albus was busy with Filius or it would've taken longer," the woman shook her head but said no more, she turned, instead, to Sirius from the Snapes, "And he will be here as soon as he can."

"That _is _the one from the red box, right?" Nathan asked, he stood and reached for it over his fathers head (getting a sharp stab to his side for doing so). He huffed and walked around the man and waited for her affirmative nod before taking it. He grinned at Harry, the expression one he had seen often enough on the faces of either twin or Marauder; it promised nothing good would come from whatever he was thinking, at least not good for anyone but himself. "Do you want it in here or your room?"

"Want what?" Harry squeaked, jumping from the table, grasping Sirius as he felt a wave of dizziness. He looked at the glass that had held his milk, the only thing he'd consumed during the meal blinked slowly and narrowed his eyes. He moved in a slow circle, swaying slightly. He looked accusingly at Nathan once he faced the man, "You drugged me!"

"Only a little bit, it's just a mild sleeping potion, not enough to make you more than drowsy, really. It'll make you a bit more amenable, really. A _mild _sedative; you could fight it if you wanted."

Sirius was pulling Harry away and leading him into the front room, "He just has to clean your ear and then he's gone. Until tomorrow." He paused, fidgeting, "And it's only for a couple of minutes! A day." Harry was staring at Sirius, his mind whirling confusedly. Sirius looked so lost, too. "You could lose your hearing, Kitten," he whispered the name Remus had been calling him, he was pressing him onto the couch. "They all said that it wouldn't hurt much. Today will be the worst."

Remus, who finally had enough of the babbling from Sirius, smacked the back of his head. "He's right Kitten, it'll hurt for a bit, but it _will _be better. Then you'll be fine, no more pain. Then we can refocus on getting you back to normal, alright Kitten?"

Harry suppressed a whimper as he saw Nathan come in, Madam Pomfrey followed but no one else. Harry looked up, fear and uncertainty fighting in his green eyes, the slits returning to the fore; his muddled mind registered Sirius grabbing his hands tightly and Remus rubbing his tense back. He nodded.

Sirius sat with Harry on the couch, Harry in the centre while he settled on the space by his feet. Harry watched as Nathan approached, his face a calculating mask much like madam Pomfrey's when she treated him. He shut his eyes tight as the man sat beside him..

"Lift up, Harry. I'll be quick." Nathan manoeuvred Harry onto his lap from his spot beside him. He had Harry's laying down on his side, head pillowed on his lap, the three men ignored the quiet whimper as Harry squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his right cheek into Nathan's thigh, otherwise his face was blank and he was mute. After a moment he opened his silted eyes and watched as Nathan was handed a steaming cloth, _(a stick?) _and another vial, this one filled with a pearly substance. He saw Remus move past Sirius, who was sitting on the floor, Harry was curled on his side, hands in front of his chest and in Sirius' grip. The space near his feet dipped and they were pulled onto a lap. The hands didn't leave from his legs, leaving warm reminders of Remus. Harry felt his ear being moved again. "I _am _sorry. It does need to be done, though."

Harry shot his eyes shut when Nathan pulled his ear straight, the warm cloth relaxed him slightly as it encircled his ear. He whimpered as he felt it slip inside, making the rushing sound return, only this time Harry knew it wasn't anger or anything but a cloth cleaning his ear out and making the blood echo.

It hurt.

He bit his lip and gripped Sirius' hands harder; pressed his face into Nathan's leg harder. He tried to escape the burning by curling his toes, fingers. He gritted his teeth and his jaw clenched tight. He whimpered as the burning became stinging became pain and the cloth seemed to be trying to get _deeper_. He opened his eyes, he could feel them burning and tried to block out the pain, it hurt more than it had when he'd hit it on branches; almost like when he'd tried to clean it.

"Hold on…" Harry heard Nathan talking softly, coaxing him to relax, he tried to keep still and not flinch away, Sirius and Remus were repeating the same sentiments thought they were petting him as they did so.

The warm cloth was pulled back a bit, still encircling the outer part of his ear, he opened eyes he hadn't meant to close but kept closing. He felt a few tears drip onto the mans trousers, Harry whimpered and tried to press his face against the leg, wanting the tears to stop, wanting the pain in his ear to stop. He hissed when the cloth was replaced by what felt like a bit of cushioning on the end of a stick. The uncomfortable rubbing accompanied the pained stings and burning for a few minutes until Harry was squeezing his eyes shut and gripping the hands that held his as hard as he could. It felt like he was being stabbed with a stick on fire. A dull stick. It was removed, as was the warm cloth and pressure that had kept him from leaping off. Harry opened his eyes again, and waited, the pain dulled just a bit. He swallowed and looked up, trying still to keep his head still, catching very dark brown eyes staring down at him. Apology was written on their surface, with a dose of sympathy beneath. Harry relaxed a bit at that, at least this Snape didn't get the same enjoyment in causing him pain.

Harry closed his eyes and tugged his right hand free, pressing into the thigh to turn a bit; hissing at the pain that rocketed through his head. He whimpered and laid there, face half down, his hand gripped close to Nathan's knee as he waited for the next part.

He didn't have long to wait as the warm cloth was pressed against him again, the same procedure as before restarting. Harry felt a few more tears slip out and wiped them away as he tried to ignore it again. It seemed like forever before he removed the cloth this time, he wasn't able to tell if the pain was worse or not. Harry sighed and opened his eyes, first seeing the leg and then eh lifted his head to see that Sirius was looking directly at him, eyes hooded and skin pale, Harry offered him a tired smile. There was a hand petting him but Harry couldn't bring himself to even see who it was, guessing it was Remus.

"I'm done-" the hand that was petting him pressing him down when he tried to get up (_'So not Remus,' _Harry blinked at that stray thought), "I just have to put the medicine in now."

Harry whimpered but let himself be guided to much the same position he had first been it, feeling his body relax in it's exhausted state. Harry felt the hand continue it's petting and closed his eyes again. A tired rumble left Harry as he sighed. He felt something thick and cool tingle as it landed in his ear. It cooled the burning instantly, though it didn't erase the pain it helped reduce it. Harry sighed and the hand petting him squeezed his shoulder before disappearing.

His ear twitched at the uncomfortable sensation of the potion as it slid down his ear until Nathan was rubbing it again, massaging the base to help spread the medicine. Harry sighed and tightened his grip, the relief mixing just enough with whatever had been in his milk to send him off to sleep, a soft purr slowly emitted from him all the while in thanks; more for the relief of the pain than for the work Nathan had done.

As he drifted off, he felt s vial pressed against his lips and automatically swallowed it; tasting a mixture of cinnamon and raspberries with just a hint of a woodsy, slimy taste.

**oOo**

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><p><strong>Authors Note:<strong>

**Well! It's been a rather long 8-10 days, _hasn't_ it!**

**Sorry about that. I've been preparing for Uni and have found that August is just anti-writing month. It's the bane of summer. Anyway, as a better apology, I made this chapter over 3000 words.**

**For those of you that read _Scarves_ the final chapter will be up very soon. **


	8. Allergy

**AN: **If you do not like my spelling or my style of writing, don't complain. Yes, I use british/french spelling, so sorry for not being american. If you have a problem, beta it and send me the 'fixed' version. Due to a few rude anonymous reviews I have disabled that feature, I'm terribly sorry to anyone kind enough to review but does not have an account. I beta things myself, this is not professional, published works, but fanfiction. Meant solely to entertain people and not to make a profit. It isn't perfect.

I've gotten two messages about the timeline, Harry has been at Grimmauld for just a few days, yes. It's slow paced now for a reason, Harry has _just_ been reunited and is getting to know his family again. Would you _really_ expect them all to adjust and be the same as canon after a few years apart. Elsie is important. Yes, that 'flash back' was needed. I believe in plot and in creating a decent one. Thank you.

Sorry for the rant, whoever read it.

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><p><strong>The Observatory's Cat<strong>

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><p><em>TOC;<em> Drugs

oOo

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><p>Harry felt the hand as it petted him, fingers that carded through his hair and down his shoulder, before he really awoke. He kept his eyes shut, feeling a slight rumbling from his chest that vibrated down his arms; he couldn't really feel the pain from his ear anymore, it was sore and felt weird, but it didn't hurt; not like it had been. Before it had been a dull throb he'd gotten rather used to.<p>

Harry stayed 'asleep' while he listened to the voices around him, his head was still pillowed on the jean-clad leg, his hand almost touching his nose from it's own resting place on the material. Someone, probably still Sirius, was holding his other hand while the hand that he was pretty sure belonged to Remus was stroking his calf, starting just as the one on his upper body lifted to restart.

Harry heard bits of the conversation, it was obviously being kept quiet for him to sleep. Nathan was telling them stories from his schooling, how he'd left Hogwarts early due to an apprenticeship at Dublin's Blodeuwedd Preparatory School and University of Medical Magic. Harry heard a few diatribes of an old friend from the place, neither lasted long really. He opened his eyes slowly, seeing Sirius passed out half on the table and his own lap, his upper body leaning back while still curling into himself; he certainly looked uncomfortable. He stretched a bit and blinked when he realised the room had gone silent, he frowned and nudged the hand with his head.

"Evening Harry," Remus called, proving Harry right that neither man had moved since the whole cleaning process had started, at least _he _hadn't stopped petting him. He nudged the hand again and stopped purring. He sighed when Nathan's restarted with a chuckle, Harry's purr rumbling for a moment. "Do you feel better?"

The hand stopped, again. Harry growled and moved onto his back, eyeing the younger Snape. Remus had stopped too. Harry pulled his legs straight, leaving them over the man's lap as he turned onto his back. He glared up at him, even as Remus patted his feet and laughed. Confused Harry looked to where Nathan was looking, he seemed to be deep in thought, as he stared at his father, eyes locked.

Harry blinked as they broke off, Nathan looking to Pomfrey as she entered while Snape looked down at him with a face that Harry'd never seen before, a face with genuine curiosity and… _remorse? _Harry blinked and the blank face was back and he wondered if he'd ever seen anything different.

"Harry?" Madam Pomfrey hovered into his view, smiling. "Drink this."

Harry scowled but dutifully drank the potion, used to taking them lying down after all those quick-breaks from his first four years in the Wizard world. His only years in the wizard world. The thought made him giggle, loudly, waking the man still gripping his hand with a snort. He remember, again, Elsie and her own giggle and he suddenly felt lonely once more.

The potion was cool, it felt like a pepper-up, but he couldn't feel any steam exiting his ears or nostrils. He blinked and winced, wriggling as it seemed to stick in his throat; he grabbed his tail as it seemed to gain it's own mind and dance around. He calmed down, until he saw the Potions Master stepping away from him, his eyes bewildered. He squirmed at the looks, was he really acting so different from when they had last known him? Harry blinked dazedly as a strange warmth settled around, making the room seem suddenly brighter, louder.

"Calm down or get up," Nathan tapped his forehead, the dark eyes meeting his own before turning back to his father, a smirk pulling at his mouth as Harry froze all movement to stare cross eyed and dazedly upward, "He's cuter than you said."

"You said _**what **_about my Godson?" Sirius dropped Harry's hand as he shot to his feet, murder bright in his grey eyes, Remus was quickly removing Harry's feet from his lap to get to him and calm the man down. Harry sighed as he lost his comfortable spot. Now that the odd euphoria of the moment had worn off his head just felt heavy and hot. Harry sat up, feeling a little dizzy as he did so and scooted back against Nathan. He felt like he'd ingested more of the drugged-milk, though with more drugs then milk. Like the first time (and only) he had been given some Catnip Elsie had found for him. He pressed his head back into Nathan's shoulder.

"Nathan Octavian Snape!" the potions master hissed, his voice dripping with acid, "I said no such thing!"

Harry was hard-pressed to hear the retort from his godfather, his ears ringing slightly. He was too busy concentrating on the slight buzzing that was shooting through him to care much. He felt Nathan move and was suddenly in his lap, face against the warm column of his neck, he flicked his ears down, tired and feeling ill now. "You said everyone fawned over him, same thing." Nathan was petting Harry as he spoke, reaching down to feel his forehead. "I think he's reacting to this potion, what was it? He should be alert, not passing out and he seems stoned."

The words caused a switch to flip in the room and in a blink Sirius and Snape were at his side quickly, Pomfrey handing over the vial to the master, from her seat on the small table, "It had a dose of a mild Full-Alert potion to keep him awake for a few hours."

"Which potion was it; does it contain either Chocolate or Caffeine? Those are quite common allergens in felines," Snape asked, receiving some answer before continuing a list of other ingredients. Harry closed his eyes, not sleepy-tired, exactly. Just a bit more… _lethargic _than usual. And he was _sore_. He lifted his outer arm to settle it around Nathan's shoulders, practically hugging the man who sighed and soon his arms wrapped around Harry.

Harry thought, slowly in his muddled state, that perhaps, _if_ he made things better Nathan wasn't absolutely horrid. Just… he was like one of the Twins, but also like Snape. So he was basically Sirius. He giggled at that and told the room his thought.

The hand rubbing Harry's back slowed, "As fascinating as that is, Harry; I'll take you to bed, where's your room?"

Harry shook his head, he didn't want to show anymore people his room, he didn't want to lose it. It was his. Maybe it was a cat-thing, or a vestige of the Dursleys, either way, everything in him wanted him to leave it secret. He still didn't like Remus knowing. "It's fading," he whispered, and it was, just _slowly_. He was being pulled back minutes later, a small cup being pressed against his lips, he swallowed it's contents without any argument, pressing back into the warmth as soon as he had. '_Yeah,' _he thought_, 'Nathan wasn't that bad.'_

"The only potential ingredient for him to react to was Cinnamon; it's not commonly used in any potions. There hasn't been any in Molly's cooking and with the new cattiness showing it could be anew allergy, it's not at all uncommon for growing children to gain them…" Harry listened to Snape lecture his family, Nathan was moving slightly beneath him. "A simple test should give us any allergies he has picked up."

"It's in pumpkin juice, Hogwarts has it at every meal, does it not?" Nathan called to his father, his breath moving Harry's hair.

"I drink milk, I didn't like it, burned my tongue the firs' time," he whispered. The newest potion took away the last of the discomfort from the other potion although he floaty feeling remained. Harry turned slightly to face the rest of the room, he was mildly surprised to see the headmaster seated in a brightly coloured chair, one he had a duplicate of in his office, or he had had one any way. Madam Pomfrey was seated on the couch, as was Snape now. Remus and Sirius were sharing the table as a bench in front of his couch. "About Hogwarts…?" Dumbledore raised one eyebrow, his eyes twinkling madly in response, "Will I be returning?"

"Of course not!" Sirius stood, shaking his hair around him, Harry thought he looked quite mad though not grubby he remembered the shrieking shack back in third year, where he first met him and learned the truth, "You're not safe there, Ron told me about your first and second years, you know. A Basilisk? A possessed teacher and killer logic games?" he growled, from the faces of the rest of the room this was not a new topic. "No, you'll not go back until both Remmy and I can protect you, Dumbles over there-"

"I'll be catching you up, you can take the OWLs and NEWTs as a home-schooled student, not everyone goes to a school." Remus interrupted Sirius' rant, cutting him off with a look. This didn't appear to be a one-time rant, either since no one else looked the least bit surprised by it.

Harry nodded, he wanted to go back, but he'd be at least a year behind Ginny, and there was the simple fact that he wouldn't be graduating with his friends. He chuckled, imagining what Malfoy would say about that. Maybe he was stoned. He was happy the subject of his room was all forgotten now, he hoped they wouldn't bring it up again; they all seemed distracted by Sirius now, anyway. He hid a smile.

"No. Hogwarts had it's chance," Sirius glared at Dumbledore; Harry winced, relief forgotten, he knew there were some hard feelings; there had been before his disappearance that he was sure had only festered and grown with his absence. Especially since Sirius obviously blamed the headmaster. Harry did too, though he knew it was partly Voldemort, the reason he'd even been in the tournament was solely Dumbledore's fault. He was supposed to keep children, students, safe. He'd still made Harry compete. He doubted he would forgive him for that. That and the Dursleys.

"Moony'll teach me defence?" he grinned at the werewolf, childish glee evident in his voice, "Like in third year?"

"And history, transfiguration and duelling." Remus grinned, "Mad-eye has requested to help, too. So yes, just like third year. Though you've mastered the Patronus," he winked, which Harry returned, "Perhaps we'll work on dome and rubber shield charms."

"I can teach him charms. Healing, too, if he wants." Harry turned back to Nathan so fast he wondered briefly about whiplash, only to turn back to the mans father when he volunteered to teach him potions. He blinked hard, not quite understanding what was going on. Perhaps he'd missed more than he'd thought.

Harry didn't get a word in edgewise since both Remus and Sirius were agreeing to it, with a few stipulations like 'no using him as ingredients, bat' and 'no funny business, Severus' from the two men. He groaned, but smiled at their willingness to help him; it was like Elsie again. He would just have to wait for the other shoe to drop and ruin this, too.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>It's rather short compared to some of the others. Sorry.  
>I'm rather angry right now and think I will redo what I have written, I've recieved a few on the 'slash' bit and am debating on taking it out, any suggestings since it's the readers who like the story that I'm posting it for?<p>

**PS,** suggestions _are_ listened to most of the time for all writers, haha, thats what the review feature is for, not for saying everything you hate about something.


	9. Summer's End

**The Observatory's Cat**

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><p><em>TOC;<em> Summer's End

oOo

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><p>The first week Harry was at Grimmauld place nearly nothing happened. He was in the manor he had taken to thinking of as his home ever since learning of it as the 'living-space in London' through Remus' letters and Sirius' talks all throughout his fourth year. Maybe not 'home' in the sense he thought of Hogwarts. <em>Had thought <em>of the castle, at any rate. Either way he had considered the place where his real family, the one he had been given, had chosen, was where he belonged. During that week Harry relaxed and got to know the Weasley's, Hermione and the Marauders again, they shared new stories; mainly tame ones when Sirius told them. He had mastered the Animagus transformation, if he could call it that anymore after Pomfrey had made it clear that nothing would change him back to how we had been pre-graveyard. Harry had, during the first few days, tried to spend time with Ron and Hermione. They really had nothing in common, he couldn't talk about Hogwarts, he couldn't even imagine some of the spells they spoke of. His main conversations came from his Uncles, the Marauders only too happy to share bits of their history; the twins were close in second though, he had helped develop quite a few new items with them.

They used mainly basic spells and many were taught fourth year and below, and then enchanted them with spells and potions they themselves had made. They had spent a good deal of their lives planning pranks and spells, Fred had actually quite the bookworm hidden within him, he had read many books on Arithmancy and Spell Creation. George on the other hand came up with all the best ideas and the concept of whatever they would need to 'create'. Harry was quite good at helping with either, while he would never have quite the imagination of George he did have a bit of his Marauder roots showing.

Between learning new spells, catching up, and 'getting healthy' as Madam Pomfrey put it when she came for his daily checks, Harry had a good deal more weight he needed to gain, a few extra _would_ be nice. He had figured out that he really didn't like the way shirts fit, not used to the nicely fitting ones and he definitely did not like the way pants felt around his tail but he was cold a lot of the time, he had a constant warming charm cast on his clothes and wore a pullover constantly. Sirius claimed it was due to his human form being too skinny and bald. Harry had been knit a brand new jumper by Molly, it was a deep grey woollen one that felt old and worn with the patterns of darker grey and a picture of a kitten who looked a lot like Harry did in a bright black in the lower part between his navel and his arm. The sweater was warm and Harry was tempted to ask her if she put a Permanent Warming Charm on it to make it that way but chose not to, in case it would disappear if he asked. He'd heard of things like that, though whether they were real or not was another story.

July 31st was the first day Harry saw Molly and her husband, Sirius and Remus, both Snapes along with the three Weasleys that were staying there and Dumbledore with Madam Pomfrey and McGonagall with Moody and the other Auror he had met, the one who had changed him back that first day Remus had found him all in the same room and not arguing or fighting, just standing around the table. Harry had came down bright and early, just a little later than he usually did since he didn't want to leave his comfortable bed only to be greeted by screams of 'Happy Birthday Harry' from every direction. Mini-fireworks whistled past, tiny dragons, phoenix and other beasts shot around the kitchen, a full pot of tea on the table right in the centre of a fully cooked breakfast, a cake on the counter proclaiming the same as the cheers from the room. Harry stood there for a good few minutes as he stared at the gathering. He hadn't even known the date until he came down. The large group had had a grand breakfast followed by Sirius and Remus whisking Harry off to a muggle amusement park with all the kids, the twins had been so excited they had agreed to leave all magical items behind, though everyone still carried their wands 'just in case'. It was a fun day, a great bonding experience for Harry and his family, although the rift between Harry and the other two-thirds of the so-called Golden Trio was still obvious it had began healing. Harry learned quite suddenly that both of them seemed to conference the other before talking to him, as though neither could talk to him without the others permission. Harry wasn't the only one to notice, either.

When they arrived back most of the adults had left, only the elder Weasleys were there. Harry opened his presents, surprised to seeing the first four he opened there were three books on 'Wandless magic'; 'Redefining Magic' was from Hermione, it was basically an encyclopaedia on all the different forms of magic and the branches that stemmed from them including Wandless spells and Apparation; 'Wandless, not Defenceless' was from Moody, it was on Muggle fighting and tactics, Molly had been appalled to find the dagger hidden with it; 'The Wandless Ability' was from Remus, it was on the theory behind Wandless magic. When he cast a puzzled look to the three who were seated together it was pointed out to Harry that he didn't have his wand and had been doing all the spells he had attempted just fine without it. He received a huge amount of 'Diaries' from his Godfather, each one detailed the pranks they had completed throughout their schooling and many more Sirius had done on his own. The began during his First year and ended a few weeks before the Potters had learned of the Prophecy in 1979. Ron had given him notes he had 'copied' from Hermione over the last two years, bound with a spell to make them like a journal while the Twins gave him testing-products. The Snapes had given him a book on Healing Potions and a thin booklet titled 'Brewing for Beginners' which was something meant for children about the age of 7 who didn't know what a 'cauldron' looked like; let alone what it was used for. Although it did have the reasons why you stirred one way and not the other, the patterns used and even the basics of ingredient reactions and why they reacted to produce the desired reaction in the final outcome. The Weasley parents had given him a brightly knit blanket with cats, canines and birds all over it. There were a few animated snitches that she swore she didn't put on it that flew around and hummed. He had received quite a few other books, the topics ranging from Charms to Defence. His favourite was a bright blue book with a lovely scripted message on the inside of the front cover:

"_Happy Birthday Mr. Potter! While it was a delight to teach you I'm sure you will learn much more without the school's nosy activities in your way, hm? I do believe you can make use of this, it is a copy of one of my own books; there is even a little Snidget Calling chant on the twenty-seventh page. If you would like any help or recommendations please don't hesitate to Owl, Filius T. Flitwick; Head of Ravenclaw House, July 31__st__ 1996". _

The bright book was without a title but the first page with writing had a beautifully scripted covering at the top in bright golden ink on the parchment, Grimoire of Advancement. The book was rather thick with the bright golden ink and script on nearly every page, going in neat lines throughout the blue book. Remus quickly looked through it but had only commented on the texture of the pages while chuckling at something about halfway through the book. The party ended with a typical Birthday Feast courtesy of Molly for the four adults and the five 'kids'. Harry had brought up the Grimoire just before they went to bed. Remus had given him a sad smile and told him that his mother had been given the same book for her seventeenth birthday from the diminutive professor, that it was something he did to a select few students each year. It was a collection of older, less used spells that had once been very common.

The following day set a pattern for the rest of summer, much of it passed just like the two summers where he had spent a week or two at the Burrow; the kids would do chores, play and laze about, getting the bare minimum on their homework done unless you were one Hermione Granger.

Harry divided his time equally around Remus and Sirius, and the Twins; most of his time spent either pranking or helping come up with prank ideas. The gap that had grown between Harry and his two best friends now seemed smaller, if littered with trees and tales; they weren't as close as before and Harry wasn't too sure if they ever would be. They had just missed something, some part of their friendship was gone and none of them knew how to get it back. Molly had moved the Weasleys and Hermione back to the Burrow as soon as the wards were finished half way through August citing the latest feud with Sirius as them biggest reason.

Molly had invited Harry to join them for the yearly school shopping, uninformed of Sirius' decision not to let him attend the school as a student and only return to visit for the day after they had made his return 'public' and the suddenness had worn off a bit. Remus speculated that she was pretending nothing had changed in the past two years, that Harry had not been a alone, lost as a tiny feline for two years, that he would be graduating with her youngest son that year and that he would see his family at Privet Drive before classes. She had even tried to convince Harry, Ron and Hermione that they'd be going to classes together again; the twins had heard about that before Sirius had and put a stop to that immediately. They had grabbed Harry and began talking of how they needed in invaluable input in their shop, and that he had so much catching up to do with his family.

Harry had glowered and told them to stop, and then Harry told them all, there and then, that he would never be a student in Hogwarts again as far as he knew. He wasn't sure about Privet Drive and since it hadn't been mentioned he wasn't going to bring it up. He never wanted to set foot there again. And at the moment, he wanted nothing to do with the castle he had considered his home. The students had turned their backs on him, his two main friends had for the majority of that year too, and the teachers had never made him feel safe. This was something he'd become stuck on, he wanted to feel safe and he hadn't had that there or with the Dursleys.

After that Molly had shut up and looked at him in surprise, but hadn't said a word.

**oOo**

The twins visited daily, arriving just after breakfast and leaving well after supper, just like clockwork. They had gained, both from Harry and the Marauders, partners to help them with their budding business; Oddly it had been Sirius to put the stipulations on the partnership of a minimum of four NEWTs, one in each of Transfiguration, Charms and Potions at least, or they would 'be too bloody dangerous' and Remus had agreed, telling them it would add more credibility to their store and they could use the Hogwarts library as much as they wanted. As they had graduated the year before with the highest number of NEWT's of any Weasley their parents had been ecstatic; until they found out about Sirius' involvement.

Molly had been less than generous to Sirius after that. Sirius had whispered that he thought the only reason he hadn't been hexed for giving her sons the encouragement she never could was because they were working together trying to find Harry.

Lunch had become an unofficial testing period for their latest concoction, they had the idea after seeing Harry and from their 'Canary Creams'; the potion, either ingested or absorbed in a large enough dosage through the skin, was meant to add animal attributes. So far the only success they had had was on giving Sirius paws for hands that were immune to the Finite Incantatem spell.

He had gone around for hours until the formula worn off. Harry took care of breakfast as he was the only one capable of waking without becoming a zombie before eating, something both Remus and Sirius were delighted about, Sirius and Remus made dinner, usually refusing to let either twin or Harry near the stove, both a hazard to the everyone with their 'pranking and cooking skills' while Harry was out since he cooked breakfast. Though when Harry wanted to they easily let him cook. He was adept at it, and he enjoyed it most of the time.

The Triple-W chain had had a mail-order business since their sixth year; during the tournament in Harry's fourth, to which they now had nearly a hundred students from Beaxbatons and Durmstrang ordering from, and a good chunk of Hogwarts, WWW was a huge success and they were opening a store at the end of September, prime time for the Halloween rush they agreed.

Harry rolled out of bed, it was very late-August now, it had been a wonderful almost-six weeks since Harry had returned. He was going with Molly, Hermione and Ron to collect the yearly Diagon school supplies. Harry had to put on the same cap Remus had gotten for him for this trip as well, it was pretty ingenious actually; it was the same shade of brown that the Weasley twins had for their 'WWW' logo, with bright golden lettering advertising for the store across the rim in at least a dozen little 'w's and sparks that shot all over the hat. It was more of a beanie that had little flaps to cover where his ears would've been, two pieces of fabric were arranged in triangles on the hat to give him 'cat-ears'. It was in their new catalogue and had already started selling. The difference between his hat and the ones being sold were that his wasn't charmed to have movable cat ears, but just disguised his without crushing them beneath the hat. They looked fake but were real. Ingenious to hide them in plain sight. Harry had worn the hat and a casually-buttoned green shirt with his normal jeans down to breakfast, his tail already tucked down one leg and Stuck to his skin, he hoped they would come out with something to fix this problem, too.

"Mornin' Cat, sleep well up there?" Remus chuckled at the dark look he received. Harry shrugged off the fact that Remus was awake, sometimes the man got up before him, now if it was Sirius that would've been cause for concern.

"You know I did." He muttered with a grin, "We're leaving after we eat, right?"

"And meeting at Fortescues!" Sirius boomed as he entered, showered and ready to go. Harry had seen him do this every time he left the house, a side-effect of being locked up that Harry knew well. The novelty of being able to go where you wanted with people who liked you didn't wear off easily.

Remus sat down with a long-suffering sigh, "No Padfoot, we are meeting at the book store, that's all that's needed other than some new quills and parchment. _Then _we're going for ice cream and _only _if you behave yourself." Remus chuckled and sat down as he pulled the newspaper toward him from the middle of the table, "And we're _meeting _once we're done breakfast so get ready."

Harry smothered a round of laughter at the dejected look on Sirius' face before the last of the sentence registered. "You said we'd eat there? At the Witches Stop? By George and Fred's-"

"Yes, Kitten," Remus laughed at Harry's confused look as he interrupted, "Whenever you're ready? We're supposed to meat them in about an hour if you want to stop."

"You know Moony? You're mean." Harry glared as his ears folded back in anger, Sirius was nodding alongside him as he fumbled for a cup, "Siri are you ready?"

"No ice cream…" He mumbled more into his scruff. He shot another dejected look over his shoulder.

"We're leaving Siri, come on. We'll grab some after we grab books, kay?" Harry ignored the amused look Remus was giving them as he moved to the fireplace. His hat had a cooling charm on it but it was still scratchy to wear for long hours, he slid his feet into a pair of shoes and grabbed some of the grey floo powder.

"Wait, wait." Sirius grumbled and stood beside his godson slipping into his own shoes and looking at his best friend, he wiggled the steaming cup he held in front f his best friend, "Come on Remy, I want my tea since _someone _can't hold on a minute."

"I thought you wanted ice cream!" Harry hissed petulantly, wiggling his hand above the coals on the fire enticingly.

"I do! But Remy won't let me!"

"You can have a double when we get there after shopping. Better?" Remus glared. He stood and moved to the fire, he was ready to go with his shoes buckled and a bag for all their purchases, the cloth charmed to be ever-light and never-full. While they didn't need any of the books that the others needed, or the parchment, the three of them would buy some texts for Harry, the Black Family Library not having quite so many 'legal' texts as they needed. Remus wanted to get a few more books appropriate for teaching Harry while Sirius needed more 'fun' books as he put it. Both Moody and Healer Nathan had suggested picking up a few of the beginners books for Healing and Shielding, something the classes at Hogwarts didn't teach past the general spells that blocked mild stunners and about nothing else, not to mention Healing was barely mentioned.

"Fine," Harry rolled his eyes at the childish tone filled with both glee and disappointment. With a shout of 'Diagon Alley' the three were soon spinning through the fire and landing in the main fireplace at the Leaky. Sirius groaned, half his tea spilled all over his shirt.

Remus sighed and spelled the cup and it's contents away. He rolled his eyes and dried his friend. They stepped out and made their way down to meet Fred and George at what would become their shop.

Harry was using the alias Evan while in public. It had been decided the night before that having 'Harry Potter' walking around Diagon would be a bad idea when it came to light he wasn't returning to school, nor was he fully human anymore. Remus had explained with an embittered tone that the main folk in the world, whether muggle or magical; did not approve of different people at all.

Harry nodded. He could handle a fake name and shopping in the uncomfortable hat. It didn't matter if anyone recognized him, not really. He knew the people who knew didn't care and no one who didn't know Harry cared about. Especially after a two year gap.

They met up with the Twins and were led into a cozy little diner for breakfast, telling jokes and happily manoeuvring around certain subjects like Molly and Sirius' feud and the Snapes.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>All mistake are my own, please tell me so I can fix them! I apologize for the long wait, if you want excuses and all, click on my profile. I update that with the news rather than these. I hope this chapter was worth the wait and enjoy!


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